Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Simplicity and studies were key for Molli’s magnetic surgical marker

May 3, 2023 By Jim Hammerand

The Molli Marker - a small, cylindrical magnet - balanced on a fingertip.

The Molli Marker magnetic implant is 3.2 mm long. [Photo courtesy of Molli]

Molli Surgical is the developer of a subcutaneous, wire-free marker for the removal of lesions in breast cancer surgery.

The Toronto-based company’s latest products are Molli 2 and Re.markable, launched in April 2023.

Molli 2 is the second-generation locator system for pinpointing the Molli Marker, a tiny, magnetic implant placed for surgical site localization with the Molli Introducer needle. Molli says its marker is the smallest on the market at just 3.2 mm in length.

Molli Re.markable, meanwhile, is the magnetic technology used to retrieve the marker if needed for a second, more accurate marker placement.

A portrait of Molli Surgical co-founders Ananth Ravi and John Dillon.

Molli Surgical’s co-founders are CEO and President Ananth Ravi and Chief Technology Officer John Dillon. [Photo courtesy of Molli Surgical]

“Re.markable is the first of its kind,” Molli co-founder, President and CEO Ananth Ravi said in an interview. “… Because we are implanting a permanent magnet, we can now use a needle that’s exactly the same gauge as the needle that we use to put the marker in” to take it out.

These implanted markers are traditionally removed during surgery along with the targeted tissue. But there was no good way to remove an imprecisely placed marker before a surgery. Instead, a surgeon would just place a second marker and remove them both with the affected tissue.

Wire markers, for comparison, are easier to remove and replace. But the placement procedure can be uncomfortable for patients — the wires secure themselves using a barbed hook beneath the skin — and in extremely rare cases can cause a collapsed lung. The wires are usually placed on the same day as the surgery to minimize patient discomfort, the risk of bleeding and marker migration.

Two needle shafts, one for implanting a small surgical site marker, and the other for removing it with a magnetic obturator.

The Molli Re.markable device (left) for removing the magnetic Molli Marker is the same size as the Molli Introducer (right) used to place the marker beneath a patient’s skin. [Image courtesy of Molli Surgical]

The magnetic Molli Marker can stay in a patient for up to 30 days under its FDA 510(k) clearance. If needed before surgery, removal is minimally invasive with the 14 gauge Molli Introducer needle, which pulls the Molli Marker out with the Molli Re.markable’s magnetic obturator.

Drawn to magnets

Molli explored electromagnetic technology, infrared and a number of other techniques before honing in on magnets.

“With electromagnetic tracking or any of these other components, you have an antenna that sends out a pulse and then listens to an echo. Anything around it distorts the environment, you have distortion effects and all of these things that really become quite cumbersome to deal with and the complexity starts to ratchet very quickly,” Ravi said. “In our mind, we were like, ‘Why are we dealing with something that’s a pulse and sending out something and listening to echo? Why can’t we just listen?'”

The magnet’s permanent magnetic field means there’s no need for the implant to be powered or have any other components beyond the magnet.

“That allowed us to simplify a lot of our design elements,” he said. “And it also made it incredibly robust, because a solid core magnet is indestructible, it’s not going to break, and it’s always going to provide a signal. That level of reliability really resonates well with surgeons who are counting on this technology to work when they need it most.”

The Molli 2 wand and tablet display.

The Molli 2 lesion localization platform locates the Molli Marker with a wand and displays its location on a tablet. [Photo courtesy of Molli Surgical]

An array of various magnetometers and software in the Molli 2 location system direct the surgeon to the implant with accuracy down to a single millimeter. While the first-generation localizer told a surgeon whether they were at the right spot, the second-generation Molli 2 can now tell the surgeon how far the implant is in a particular direction and confirm when they’re on target.

“The secret sauce is really around in how you calculate this with robustness,” Ravi said, though he declined to go into detail for competitive reasons. “Taking all that information and then distilling it into a simplistic user interface is where we pride the ingenuity of our engineering team.”

Keep it simple

That simplicity is crucial. Molli tested with dozens of surgeons to make sure the information on display wouldn’t be overwhelming or distracting.

“You want to simplify down to something that’s accessible and just the right amount of information at the right time for the surgeon,” he said. “… We obsess over those details to make sure that the interfaces are simple and easily used. We’re not presenting so much information that it’s confusing. We’re not presenting less than what’s absolutely required.”

It’s not always easy to resist the urge to show off complexity, but Ravi encouraged engineers to start with the user’s fundamental need and design for that outcome.

“Once you start presenting more while it’s totally doable you will start to distract from the bare essence and there’s risk in that. That cognitive fatigue can result in errors,” Ravi said. “The purpose of engineering complexity is to simplify. It’s not to show the cleverness of the solution.”

Look for more from Molli in the months and years ahead.

“We’re committed to launching new products every 12 to 18 months. But to do that, you have to make some bold bets sometimes,” Ravi said. “There are ways to make these bold bets with a measured type of study and testing. You just continuously de-risk initiatives. so by the time you get to the FDA and by the time you’re doing ISO-level studies and tests, your entire project’s fully de-risked and then your pathway to clearance is seamless.”

Related Articles Read More >

An illustration showing the Edwards Lifesciences Sapien M3 transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) system's dock being placed in the heart. [Image courtesy of Edwards Lifesciences]
The Edwards Lifesciences Sapien M3 transcatheter mitral valve replacement system uses nitinol in a new way
A photo of the Cardiac Dimensions Carillon Mitral Contour System in a physician's hand.
How Cardiac Dimensions developed the Carillon Mitral Contour System — and makes the nitinol implant in-house
An image of Resonant Link Medical's wireless 20-minute IPG recharger.
Resonant Link Medical hires medtech vet from Abbott as CEO
Wyss Institute researchers develop coating to extend lifespan of implantable biosensors
“mdo
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest medical device business news, application and technology trends.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe