UPDATED WINSTON-SALEM, NC–OptiVia Medical, a developer of medical devices, has received $500,000 of a $1.5 million B round from individual investors, Dow Jones Venture Wire reports.

Marc Finch, OptiVia director of business development and marketing, tells TechJournal South the company makes “steerable instrument channels” for minimally invasive endoscopic surgery.

He points out that current endoscopic surgery methods have a steep learning curve for many procedures. A doctor has to maneuver both the guiding scope and the surgical instrument.

Currently, for instance, the gynacological endoscopic surgery to close a woman’s fallopian tubes is only practiced by about 12 to 15 percent of doctors because its difficulty.

“We think we can increase that to 5o or 60 percent,” says Finch.

The company, founded in 2003 plans to use funds from its B round to take its FDA-approved gynacological device into manufacturing and marketing. “Close of this round will allow us to commercialize the product,” Finch says.

Optivia’s second product is a spine surgery device that will bring the same sort of easier to use and learn technology to treat disc troubles “from the inside out,” says Finch. The company will seek partners or additional funding to market the spine device, which has been submitted for FDA approval.

The three employee company will be doing some hiring for it manufacturing and marketing operations. The company has a contract with Cathtek in Winston-Salem to make its gynacological device.

Serial entrepreneur Jack Snoke founded Optiva. A medical device designer, Snoke previously founded Catheter Imaging Systems of Atlanta.

For the company’s Web site see: www.ptiviamedical.com

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