Cydar EV, a medical software start-up, said this week that it hired several new directors, including Roche’s recently-retired chairman Franz Humer.
The U.K.-based company is developing cloud-based software to produce 3D images of a patient’s blood vessels in X-ray guided endovascular surgery. Cydar said Humer will bring a “wealth of commercialization” and key developmental insights for future applications of its software.
At Roche, Humer was a driving force behind the Swiss drugmaker’s 2009 takeover of Genentech. Since the acquisition, the U.S. biotech has produced some of Roche’s best-selling cancer therapies.
Humer also previously worked at GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and Merck (NYSE:MRK). Alongside Humer, Cydar hired Mervyn Davies and James Downing as non-executive directors and John Deanfield to head a new scientific and technology advisory board.
Cydar won regulatory clearance for its software in the U.S. last year and its tool is in use at several UK hospitals, according to the company.
The guidance system features fully-automatic computer vision, which is used to track patients during X-ray guided surgery. The company said that its technology combines diagnostic scanning, planning information and real-time imaging.
The software is designed to be compatible with any X-ray system and to provide the operating surgeon with a detailed, 3D augmented reality view of the patient’s anatomy.
Early clinical studies indicated that the 3D information from the system is associated with reductions in X-ray exposure to staff and patients, as well as lower use of contrast agents and shortened procedure times, Cydar reported.
Materials from Reuters were used in this report.