Swiss medical technology company Clee Medical is developing real-time intraoperative imaging and navigation devices for brain surgery to enhance surgical precision

(The author of this article is Yiming Technology, published by Titanium Media with authorization)

Image source: Wyss Center

钛媒体APP note:Since 2011, Switzerland has ranked first in the Global Innovation Index for 15 consecutive years, serving as a significant global source of innovation. It is also the first country to establish an innovative strategic partnership with China, showing excellent complementarity with China in the field of innovative development

The 'Top 100 Swiss Innovations,' hosted by Venturelab, gathers the best 'Swiss-made' startups and growth-stage technological innovation companies, serving as a benchmark for Switzerland’s most internationally influential innovation ecosystem. Since 2011, this list annually selects 100 of the most innovative and market-promising Swiss companies and 25 Swiss growth-stage companies with unicorn potential nationwide, covering areas such as life sciences, mechanical engineering, robotics, ICT, low-carbon technologies, and food technology.

To comprehensively showcase and introduce Switzerland's cutting-edge innovative technologies, the Titanium Media APP has partnered with Insight Tech, the authorized Chinese collaborator of Venturelab, to launch a feature that fully displays the landscape of Switzerland’s pioneering science and innovation ecosystem.

This article is Column Issue No. 196, introducing Clee Medical, a company listed in the 2025 'Top 100 Swiss Innovators.' The company is dedicated to developing real-time intraoperative imaging and navigation devices for brain surgery

Swiss medical technology company Clee Medical was founded in 2024. The company focuses on developing real-time intraoperative imaging and navigation devices for brain surgery. This device combines ultra-high-resolution intraoperative optical coherence tomography (OCT) with artificial intelligence navigation functions, providing neurosurgeons with real-time visualization of fine brain structures during stereotactic procedures, enhancing the precision of minimally invasive brain surgeries

Clee Medical is a spin-off company from the Wyss Center in Geneva, co-founded by Matthew Lapinski and Abed Hammoud. Matthew Lapinski serves as the company's CEO, holding a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and having previously worked as a mechanical engineering manager at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering. Abed Hammoud is the company's chief technology officer, with over 30 years of leadership experience in stereotactic neurosurgery and technology enterprises.

Image source: Clee Medical

Currently, most brain surgeries still primarily rely on preoperative MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) for pathway planning. However, once surgery begins, doctors often lack sufficient real-time visualization support, which directly impacts surgical safety and positioning accuracy. This is particularly critical in stereotactic procedures such as neuromodulation, brain biopsies, sEEG (stereoelectroencephalography), and ablation surgeries, where clinical standards typically demand sub-millimeter precision. Conventional MRI resolution is generally limited to 1-2 millimeters, and imaging is performed preoperatively. During surgery, changes in patient positioning, brain shifts after craniotomy, and other factors can cause discrepancies between preoperative images and actual intraoperative anatomy, increasing uncertainty for surgeons and making it difficult to adjust puncture or operation paths promptly.

Image source: Campus Biotech

Clee Medical has developed real-time intraoperative imaging and navigation equipment for brain surgery. The system consists of an intraoperative OCT imaging device and a disposable endoscopic probe, combining OCT imaging with AI navigation. This allows neurosurgeons to visualize brain tissue and critical structures in real time during stereotactic procedures, rather than relying solely on preoperative MRI.

Clee Medical’s intraoperative OCT imaging device is a forward-viewing OCT system customized for minimally invasive brain pathways, neurosurgical path planning, and intraoperative identification. It uses a novel monolithic endoscope design that simplifies construction while minimizing polarization artifacts. Operating at a wavelength of 1310nm, the device offers real-time 3D imaging capabilities. With ultra-high resolution, it achieves imaging at 15 microns, providing 300,000 additional voxels per unit volume compared to MRI, without requiring contrast agents or radiation. Its disposable endoscopic probe is a slender, forward-viewing device similar in size to common neurosurgical instruments, enabling doctors to incorporate real-time imaging without altering their existing operational habits and ensuring compatibility with current neurosurgical workflows.

Clee Medical’s real-time intraoperative imaging and navigation system also employs AI-assisted navigation technology to interpret these intraoperative images in real time, identifying key brain anatomical structures and signals related to blood vessels and blood flow, thereby enhancing surgical precision. The system has real-time tissue recognition capabilities, allowing it to differentiate between various types of brain tissue and regions, identify and highlight critical brain anatomical structures, and help surgeons understand the relationship between the current instrument position and surrounding tissues, improving surgical accuracy. Additionally, the system can detect signals related to human blood flow and blood vessels, helping surgeons anticipate and avoid important areas such as vessels or functional tissues before moving instruments, reducing the risk of accidental vessel injury and thus lowering the risk of bleeding.

Clee Medical’s real-time intraoperative imaging and navigation system is still in the early stages of clinical validation, targeting applications such as deep brain stimulation, brain biopsies, stereoelectroencephalography, and brain tumors. In August 2025, Clee Medical established a strategic partnership with SFITS (Swiss Foundation for Innovation and Training in Surgery) to accelerate the clinical validation and application of its imaging and navigation devices. In September 2025, the company announced that its technology had been used in 11 neurosurgical procedures and that it was collaborating with Bern University of Applied Sciences to advance the development of AI-driven imaging and navigation systems.

In February 2026, Clee Medical completed its seed funding round, led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), with participation from Zürcher Kantonalbank, Kickfund, FONGIT, and Venture Kick. The funds will be used to accelerate the development, clinical validation, and regulatory preparation of its Neuro Access platform.

Image source: Ming Technology

The 2025 Chinese edition of 'Switzerland Innovation 100' is proudly released by Insight Tech. Insight Tech is the authorized Chinese partner of 'Switzerland Innovation 100', responsible for its operation and promotion in China, as well as assisting listed projects in their commercial cooperation with China.Yiming Technology is a Sino-European (Switzerland) industrial innovation cooperation service provider.Committed to ecological construction and cross-border empowerment, promoting the adaptation of Swiss innovation in China and the internationalization of Chinese industries。

To obtain the complete list of 'Top 100 Innovators in Switzerland' and industry rankings, visit the Yiming Technology official account or website.

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