About this episode

Liam Burns discusses the challenges of surgical leak detection and how Qaelon Medical is innovating in this space.

Liam Burns, CEO of Qaelon Medical, joins Henry Norton to talk about one of surgery's most dangerous and overlooked complications: the anastomotic leak. With leak rates in colorectal surgery now estimated at 18-20% and the standard detection method dating back to 1910, Liam explains how Qaelon is digitizing leak detection to give surgeons real-time, objective data in the OR. He also shares the personal motivation driving the mission, his son Colin's battle with Crohn's disease, the leadership lessons he carried from the US Navy into medtech startups, and why he believes your device's data belongs to the surgical community. Key Topics: Why surgical leak rates are far higher than the community historically believed How Qaelon's gas-monitoring platform detects leaks in under 30 seconds The case for constant flow insufflation in robotic surgery Building a GI data ecosystem from pre-op through post-op Career lessons from J&J/Ethicon, Power Medical, and ConMed Why medtech founders should watch the full procedure, not just their product's moment Related Insights: How capitated CMS payments are shifting the financial burden of complications back onto US hospitals The combination of…

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Crux of Medtech podcast page.