XCath

XCath is a medical device company founded in 2017 that is developing robotic technology for neuro-endovascular procedures. Spun out of the University of Texas Microsurgical Robotics Lab, the company aims to enhance the precision of navigating the vascular system and expand access to critical care for conditions like stroke and brain aneurysms. The company operates from campuses in Houston, Texas, and Pangyo, South Korea.

The company's core product is the Iris Surgical Robotic System, an endovascular robot designed to manipulate guidewires, catheters, and other treatment devices with sub-millimeter precision for both local and telerobotic procedures. This system is engineered to be compatible with a range of existing neurovascular devices and standard monoplane imaging equipment, which could reduce infrastructure costs for hospitals. XCath is also developing the ElectroSteer Deflectable Guidewire, an electronically-controlled, steerable guidewire that can be used with the Iris system or a handheld controller. The company's business model appears to focus on a hub-and-spoke approach, where specialists at major medical centers (hubs) can remotely perform procedures at smaller, robot-equipped facilities (spokes), thereby addressing the global shortage of neurointerventional specialists.

XCath has achieved several significant milestones. In November 2025, the Iris system was used in first-in-human procedures to treat patients with complex brain aneurysms at The Panama Clinic, marking only the second time a surgical robot had been used for an intracranial neurovascular intervention. More recently, in March 2026, the company announced the completion of the world's first telerobotic stroke procedure, where a surgeon in Santiago, Panama, performed a mechanical thrombectomy on a patient located over 200 kilometers away in Panama City. The company has raised a total of $92 million in funding, including a $30 million Series C round in March 2026 co-led by Crescent Enterprises and Dr. Fred Moll, the co-founder of Intuitive Surgical and XCath's Chairman of the Board. The Iris Surgical Robotic System is still under development and has not yet been cleared for commercial distribution in any country.

Keywords: Endovascular robotics, telerobotics, neurovascular intervention, stroke treatment, mechanical thrombectomy, brain aneurysm, medical device, surgical robot, Iris Surgical Robotic System, remote surgery, steerable guidewires, intracranial navigation, minimally invasive surgery, medical robotics, neurointervention, telerobotic surgery, vascular robotics, telesurgery, catheter robotics, endoluminal robotics