EndoSound is trying to solve a problem that most patients never realize exists.
While endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is one of the best tools available for detecting diseases like pancreatic cancer, liver disease, and gastrointestinal tumors, it's typically available only at large hospitals. That’s because the equipment is expensive, specialized, and requires dedicated endoscopes. As a result, many community hospitals and outpatient surgery centers simply don't offer it.
The Oregon-based medtech company has developed a more affordable alternative. Instead of requiring physicians to purchase entirely new endoscopes, EndoSound's system adds ultrasound capability to the standard gastroscopes already used in thousands of endoscopy suites. The result is a lower-cost way for doctors to perform advanced imaging without dramatically changing their workflow.
EndoSound has raised more than $12 million from professional investors and strategic partners. This includes venture-firm GeoMedTech and the American Gastroenterological Association's GI Opportunity Fund. The company has also signed a $5 million licensing agreement with a major gastrointestinal medical-device company.
To understand why that matters, it helps to know how endoscopic ultrasound works. During a traditional endoscopy, physicians insert a flexible tube equipped with a camera into a patient's digestive tract. That allows them to see the surface of organs like the stomach and esophagus.
Endoscopic ultrasound goes a step further by adding an ultrasound probe to the tip of the scope, allowing doctors to see beneath the surface and examine nearby organs, lymph nodes, and tissue. This makes it much easier to detect pancreatic cancer, liver disease, cysts, tumors, and other abnormalities at earlier stages.
The problem is cost. Conventional EUS systems require specialized equipment that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, limiting access primarily to major medical centers. EndoSound's Vision System is designed to deliver many of the same diagnostic capabilities using equipment physicians already own. That significantly lowers the financial barrier for outpatient surgery centers and community hospitals while potentially allowing many more patients to receive advanced diagnostic imaging closer to home.
The opportunity is sizable. EndoSound estimates it's pursuing a global market worth roughly $20 billion spanning gastrointestinal diagnostics and echo-endoscopy. Several long-term trends are working in its favor, including an aging population, rising rates of digestive diseases, and increasing emphasis on earlier cancer detection. As healthcare systems continue shifting more procedures away from hospitals and into lower-cost outpatient settings, demand for affordable imaging technologies could continue growing.
EndoSound’s business model combines equipment sales with recurring revenue. Healthcare providers purchase the company's imaging system for approximately $60,000. After that, EndoSound generates ongoing revenue through disposable components and procedure-related products that average roughly $650 per use. That creates a "razor-and-blade" model in which every additional procedure performed can generate recurring income after the initial equipment sale.
The company’s technology has received both FDA clearance and the FDA's Breakthrough Device designation. More than 1,000 procedures have been performed using the system, with reported clinical acceptance exceeding 95%. EndoSound has also built a substantial intellectual property portfolio that includes 10 issued patents and another 10 patent applications. In 2022, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy recognized the company with its GI Innovation of the Year award.
The leadership team also brings relevant commercialization experience. Co-founder and CTO Scott Corbett previously founded MicroConnex, a medical-device manufacturing company that was ultimately acquired by Carlisle Interconnect Technologies.