Medtronic has agreed to acquire California-based medical-device maker RF Surgical Systems for $235 million. Dublin-based Medtronic is looking to broaden its offerings to include products designed to detect surgical items and prevent them from being accidentally left inside patients.
The deal is expected to be completed next month with additional terms of the acquisition not disclosed Monday.
RF Surgical develops products like surgical sponges, gauze and towels that emit low-frequency radio signals to track them if left inside the human body.
“Patients are our priority,” said Chris Barry, senior vice president of Medtronic's surgical innovations in the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, in a statement. “Improving patient safety and outcomes is our daily focus, which directly aligns with the RF Surgical technology, a simple and cost-effective solution to avoidable complications in surgical procedures.”
There are as many as 4,000 cases of retained surgical items annually in the U.S., according to NoThing Left Behind, a voluntary initiative started in 2004 to improve surgical patient safety.
“We are pleased to be joining the Medtronic team as their long-standing commitment to patient safety closely aligns with RF Surgical,” said John Buhler, CEO of RF Surgical, in a statement. “As we strive to make the RF Surgical technology the global standard of care, we look forward to the innovation opportunity afforded by our combined capabilities.”
The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions Medtronic has made this year and began in January with the purchase of surgical-device maker Covidien for $9 billion. That prompted the move of the company's headquarters from Minnesota to Dublin.
Last month, Medtronic acquired Sunnyvale, Calif.-based medical-device manufacturer Aptus Endosystems for $110 million, and in April, announced an agreement to purchase Netherlands-based Diabeter, a youth diabetes clinic and research center.
Both deals followed Medtronic's acquisition in March of Sophono, a Boulder, Colo.-based producer of magnetic hearing implants.