Mann Parikh remembers when his grandfather went in for surgery and came out with accidental nerve damage that would change the rest of his life.
“It resulted in chronic pain, disability and reduced quality of life. But the pain didn’t just stop at him,” said Parikh. “It perpetuated towards the people around him that loved him, as well.”
That experience became part of the inspiration behind NerView Surgical Inc., a medtech startup building a first-of-its-kind technology to help surgeons identify and avoid nerves in real time.
Parikh came up with the idea as a way to solve the problem of accidental nerve injuries during surgery through hundreds of interviews with surgeons. He recently graduated with a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree in the Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization program at McMaster University, and has already won multiple pitch competitions and built partnerships with leading institutions. NerView was also the only Canadian medtech company to win the 2025 Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) Startup Award in the emerging category.
NerView’s device, NerveSense, uses advanced optical imaging, computer vision and AI to give surgeons a live, colour-overlay visualization of nerves during open surgery without dye injections or invasive electrodes. Parikh says it removes virtually any physical contact with the patient. The device can help reduce accidental nerve injuries, which can lead to serious complications like chronic pain, muscle weakness or loss of sensation.
“Surgeons often lacked a standard of care for nerve visualization and rely on the naked eye,” said Parikh. “We heard story after story about avoidable injuries.”
NerView is one of eight startups selected for the second cohort of the Communitech MedTech Accelerator program, which helps early-stage health tech companies with commercialization, regulation and funding.
“We’re learning how to navigate the regulatory path, how to get reimbursed, how to talk to investors, everything that’s crucial for medtech,” said Parikh. “And we’re doing it surrounded by people who’ve been through it before.”
The new cohort includes a mix of technologies taking on challenges in cancer diagnostics, fertility, rehabilitation and more:
- AI Vali uses artificial intelligence to improve medical imaging and clinical workflows, especially for endoscopy procedures. Their main product, AIDREA, is a flexible, easy-to-expand AI platform that captures and analyzes data in real time.
- Awenza is building smart tools to help people recover their muscle strength after injury or illness. Their technology gives real-time feedback on how muscles are performing, This helps doctors and therapists track progress and support recovery in the clinic or remotely.
- Cobionix builds autonomous robotics platforms. Their main product, Codi, is an AI-powered robot that can handle routine tasks in medical settings. Its first big use is a remote ultrasound system that lets doctors and sonographers perform ultrasound exams from a distance.
- ESI Imaging is making breast cancer screening simpler and more accessible. They've created safe, radiation-free imaging tools that are easy to use and give quick results, so screenings can happen in a family doctor’s office, without needing to go to a hospital or clinic for a mammogram.
- Illumacell is developing a natural, non-invasive approach to treating cancer using advanced light-based technology. Their patented photodynamic therapy (PDT) delivers therapeutic light deep into the body to activate a special drug that targets and destroys cancer cells, while helping healthy tissue recover.
- Maman Biomedical is making fertility treatments easier by removing the need for multiple daily injections during IVF and IUI. Instead, they’ve developed a needle-free patch that delivers fertility medication in a more comfortable, patient-friendly way to help reduce stress and improve the overall experience for women.
- Vibraint helps people with severe paralysis regain movement using a device called RehUp. It combines a brain-computer interface (BCI), AI, and virtual reality so patients can control a robotic arm with their brain signals. The goal is to make this technology affordable and accessible for people around the world living with paralysis.
Each startup will get expert mentorship and access to a national network of partners, funders and advisors.
“We plan to leverage the program’s ecosystem of experts and past entrepreneurs to learn and improve our processes,” said Parikh.
With five generations of prototypes, upcoming early-stage human clinical trials, and momentum from national and international recognition, NerView’s journey is just beginning.
“My grandfather’s story isn’t unique,” said Parikh. “We’ve met so many people affected by surgical nerve injuries. If we can give surgeons the tools to prevent just one more of those, it’s all worth it.”
