SamanTree Medical has secured €20 million in financing from the European Investment Bank to accelerate development and commercialization of its Histolog Scanner, a surgical imaging system designed to deliver rapid, high-resolution, histology-like images of excised tissue while patients remain on the operating table.
The financing, backed by InvestEU, will support research and development of an advanced confocal microscopy scanner for imaging the internal microstructure of tissue samples during surgical procedures. The EIB said the funding is provided through its Venture Debt Instrument, intended to support highly innovative, research-intensive companies.
SamanTree Medical, headquartered in Liège, Belgium, is focused on improving oncologic surgery through imaging solutions that help clinicians assess whether abnormal cellular microstructures remain at a surgical site during an operation. The company’s Histolog Scanner uses massively parallel confocal microscopy, enabling it to capture nearly 30,000 images simultaneously rather than sequentially. The approach is designed to generate high-resolution images in about one minute without damaging the specimen, allowing surgeons and pathologists to review tissue within minutes and make intraoperative decisions without waiting for conventional pathology workflows.
According to the company, the Histolog Scanner has been used in more than 6,000 patients and has shown results across multiple tissue types. In breast-conserving surgery, the SHIELD study reported that when physicians used Histologic images for assessment, reoperation rates declined from 30% to 10%, representing a 67% reduction.
SamanTree also cited research comparing Histolog to intraoperative frozen section analysis in prostatectomies. The company said Histolog produced results similar to frozen-section analysis while requiring less time, with imaging and interpretation taking about 5 to 20 minutes, versus 45 to 60 minutes for frozen-section analysis.
Additional studies referenced by the company reported sensitivity ranging from 73% to 91% and specificity ranging from 91% to 100% when compared to conventional pathology, and suggested that intraoperative assessment can support more nerve-sparing approaches that may reduce erectile dysfunction following radical prostatectomy.
The EIB described the investment as aligned with its broader role as the European Union’s long-term lending institution and its focus on supporting innovation in healthcare technology across Europe.
KEY QUOTES
“The support of the European Investment Bank represents an important milestone for SamanTree. This financing allows us to accelerate development of the Histolog Scanner and expand our commercial presence across Europe and the United States. The rigorous due diligence process undertaken by the EIB reflects the importance of our innovative technology, our development plan and our long-term vision for advancing real-time, high-resolution imaging for excised tissue.”
Olivier Delporte, CEO, SamanTree Medical
“Our investment in SamanTree Medical reflects the EIB’s long-standing commitment to advancing medical innovation across Europe. By supporting med-tech companies through venture debt, a tool that helps entrepreneurs accelerate growth and bring cutting-edge technologies to patients sooner, we make sure that key medical tech companies can grow and thrive in Europe. Supporting innovators like SamanTree Medical is central to our mission of driving positive impact for patients and healthcare systems.”
Alessandro Izzo, Director, European Investment Bank
