Medtech
4 Early-Stage Medical Imaging Startups to Watch in 2026
DealBio tracks early-stage medical imaging startups across Europe and North America. Here are 4 we think are worth watching in 2026. They are working across compact MRI, intraoperative imaging, tumor-margin assessment and image-guided surgical robotics.
- Medtech
- Medical Imaging
- Surgical Technology
Medical imaging is central to diagnosis, treatment planning and surgery.
Yet access still often depends on large machines and specialist facilities. In many cases, clinicians also rely on images captured before the moment they need to make a decision.
That creates room for new approaches that make imaging easier to access, bring it closer to the procedure, or help clinicians act on imaging data faster.
The four early-stage medical imaging startups in this article are approaching that opportunity in different ways, but the underlying direction is similar: moving imaging closer to the point where clinicians need to act.
At a glance
- AdialanteUnited States2023Bringing compact mobile MRI closer to specialist clinics
- Clee MedicalSwitzerland2024Adding real-time tissue imaging to minimally invasive brain surgery
- SPCTRNetherlands2025Assessing tumor margins during breast-cancer surgery
- Surgitec RoboticsFrance2023Using medical imaging to align a multi-specialty surgical robot
Making compact mobile MRI screening accessible outside traditional imaging centers.
- Country
United States- Founded
- 2023
- Sector
- Medtech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
Why Adialante stood out
Adialante is tackling an infrastructure problem rather than trying to replace MRI with another diagnostic modality. Conventional MRI systems are large, expensive and difficult to install, leaving many specialist clinics dependent on external imaging centers.
The company has signed letters of intent representing $19.75 million in total contract value across 11 clinics. It also holds two issued US patents covering its core compact-MRI methods and has received more than $3 million in non-dilutive funding.
The founding team is closely tied to the underlying MRI science. CEO Efraín Torres earned a PhD in biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota and is a co-inventor on the two issued patents. COO Parker Jenkins is also a biomedical-engineering researcher focused on lower-cost MRI.
What Adialante is building
Adialante is developing a compact mobile MRI system, starting with prostate imaging before biopsy in urology clinics.
Its gradient-free architecture is designed to reduce the hardware and infrastructure normally associated with conventional MRI. The system requires no liquid helium or dedicated shielded room, making it easier to deploy closer to specialist practices.
The company plans to own and operate the mobile units and charge clinics per scan. The key shift is therefore not the clinical role of MRI, but where it can be delivered and how clinics gain access to it.
Building real-time tissue imaging and AI guidance for minimally invasive brain surgery.
- Country
Switzerland- Founded
- 2024
- Sector
- Medtech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
Why Clee Medical stood out
Brain surgery is often navigated using scans captured before the procedure, even though brain tissue can shift once surgery begins. Clee Medical is addressing that gap with imaging that travels along the surgical path itself.
Its Neuro Access system was used alongside neurosurgeons in 11 procedures during the company’s first year. Clee has also raised a seed round led by High-Tech Gründerfonds and won CHF 270,000 across the W.A. de Vigier Award and Venture Kick.
The team brings unusually relevant surgical-navigation experience. CEO Matthew Lapinski previously led the Wyss Geneva research program behind the company. CTO Abed Hammoud helped build two earlier surgical-navigation companies that were later acquired and contributed to technologies including Medtronic’s StealthStation and FrameLink systems.
What Clee Medical is building
Neuro Access is a narrow single-use imaging probe for stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, including deep-brain stimulation, epilepsy procedures and deep-tumor biopsies.
The probe uses optical coherence tomography to image tissue directly ahead of the instrument and software to classify tissue and detect blood flow.
Rather than replacing conventional navigation, Clee Medical is adding live tissue information at the point where the surgeon is advancing through the brain.
03
SPCTR
Using light and AI to tell surgeons during an operation if a tumor was fully removed.
- Country
Netherlands- Founded
- 2025
- Sector
- Medtech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
Why SPCTR stood out
In breast-conserving surgery, surgeons may not know whether cancer remains at the edge of removed tissue until pathology results arrive after the operation. SPCTR is trying to move that answer into the operating room.
The company has raised €350,000 from Future Tech Ventures and angel investors and is running a first-in-human study at two Dutch hospitals, including Martini Ziekenhuis and UMC Utrecht.
CEO Wido Heeman previously took another surgical-imaging technology from prototype to first-in-human studies and earned a PhD cum laude in biomedical engineering. CTO Rowan Timmermans brings product and software experience from large-scale technology deployments, including systems used by more than one million users.
What SPCTR is building
SPCTRone analyzes light reflected from removed tissue and uses AI trained against pathology to classify whether the surgical margin appears cancer-free while the patient is still in surgery.
The system is designed to work without injected dyes and without adding another specialist to the operating room.
SPCTR is starting with breast-conserving surgery, where faster margin assessment could reduce the gap between tissue removal and the decision on whether more tissue needs to be taken.
Developing robotic systems for AI-assisted bone surgery.
- Country
France- Founded
- 2023
- Sector
- Medtech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
Why Surgitec Robotics stood out
Surgitec Robotics is primarily a surgical-robotics company, but medical imaging is central to how its platform aligns itself with the patient’s anatomy.
The company has raised more than €8 million and filed a patent application covering contactless robot-to-patient alignment using medical imaging.
The founding team combines commercial leadership with direct experience in surgical robotics. Neurosurgeon Michel Lefranc co-developed the ROSA surgical robot and led a hospital program through its 100th robot-assisted spine procedure. CTO Florian Coiseur spent nearly eight years at the company behind ROSA and is an inventor on several surgical-robotics patents.
What Surgitec Robotics is building
Surge One is being developed as a shared robotic platform for hard-tissue procedures across neurosurgery, spine, orthopedics, maxillofacial surgery and ENT.
Its alignment system projects laser geometry onto the operating area and matches that geometry with the patient’s medical images. This allows the robot to register itself with the anatomy without attaching a physical marker to the bone.
For Surgitec, imaging becomes part of how the robot understands where the patient is and how the procedure should be executed.
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The common shift: imaging closer to the decision
Adialante is rethinking where MRI can be delivered. Its compact system is designed for specialist clinics, reducing the need to send patients to large imaging centers.
Clee Medical focuses on what happens during surgery. Its system provides live tissue information as the surgeon advances toward a target, rather than relying only on scans captured beforehand.
SPCTR is shortening the time between imaging and action. Surgeons could assess tumor margins while the operation is still underway, instead of waiting for postoperative pathology.
Surgitec Robotics uses medical imaging as part of robotic guidance. Images help the system align with the patient’s anatomy and support the execution of the procedure.
Taken together, these startups point to a broader shift in medical imaging. The opportunity is not only to improve image quality, but also to make imaging more accessible, more timely and more directly connected to clinical decisions.
For investors, this expands the opportunity beyond new scanners. Innovation is emerging across the imaging workflow, from access and acquisition to intraoperative guidance and robotic surgery.
Methodology
DealBio selected these companies from its database of early-stage health and longevity startups, focusing on businesses where medical imaging plays a central role in the product or clinical workflow. The companies were chosen to represent meaningfully different approaches to how imaging is delivered or used. DealBio builds its Startup Briefs using publicly available company materials, ecosystem sources, market references and professional profiles.