Burlington, MA-based InfraReDx said today it has raised $21 million in a Series D round of equity financing from new and existing backers. The cash infusion will enable the firm to start U.S. sales of its latest-generation coronary imaging system, which gained FDA clearance this summer.
The 12-year-old firm says that its “LipiScan IVUS” system is the first to combine near infrared light and a type of intravascular ultrasound to provide detailed images of a type of fatty plaque in the arteries. Last year, the firm released its first version of the system, which doesn’t seem to include the ultrasound technology. (Here’s more on InfraReDx‘s infrared technology from our previous coverage.)
For the commercial release of its latest product, the company plans to target top catheterization labs in the U.S. and expand its sales to Europe in 2011. Catheterization labs are where doctors perform stenting procedures to prop open a patient’s artery after blockages are removed. The firm says that its imaging system can enable precise placement of stents, limit complications of stenting procedures, and help doctors to figure out the best treatments for a patient’s heart disease.
“The LipiScan IVUS system will enable interventional cardiologists to accurately and rapidly identify the lipid core plaques that complicate stenting and are believed to be the major cause of heart attacks,” said James Muller, the company’s founder and CEO, in the announcement.
InfraReDx, which has now raised more than $100 million from investors, named only its previous backer Sanderling Ventures of San Diego and San Mateo, CA in this latest round. The company declined to release the names of its new investors.
