The MedTech Podcast shares the journey behind the path of the people shaping the MedTech industry and its future. Join me as I connect with industry leaders, thought providers and innovators.
Hosted by Karandeep Singh Badwal, Karandeep is a Quality & Regulatory Consultant specialising in the MedTech Industry. If you have any ideas for future episodes or would like to be on the podcast then feel free to connect with me via the links below
Follow Karandeep on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karandeepbadwal/
Follow Karandeep on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KarandeepBadwal/
Site
RSS
Apple
Data updated on 02/10/2026
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
#107 Catching Disease Five Years Early with Caroline Vissers: Walking Away From Faculty, Why Investors Avoid Diagnostics and Rethinking When We Diagnose
Episode 107
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 • Duration 26:57
Caroline Vissers, co-founder of Immunectra and a former UCSF faculty member, who walked away from a lab of her own to build a company. Working alongside scientific co-founders Joe DeRisi and Michael Wilson, Caroline is developing blood-based tests capable of detecting autoimmune disease long before a patient ever shows symptoms.
In this episode, Caroline shares why she gave up a faculty position most scientists spend a career chasing, how she prepared for the jump with a venture capital course and consulting work before committing and why the entrepreneurial path was always the real destination. She also breaks down epitranscriptomics in plain terms and explains the unusual path that led from RNA methylation research into autoimmunity.
The core of the conversation is early detection. Caroline explains the prodromal phase, why MS patients often wait years for a diagnosis while irreversible neurological damage is already happening and what it means to detect disease up to five years before onset. We get into the uncomfortable reality that healthcare reimbursement is built for reactive medicine rather than prediction, how employer-based insurance may open the door and why she is upfront that policy will have to catch up with the science.
We also cover the access to biobanked military samples that made the discovery possible and now serves as a competitive moat, why so many life science investors avoid diagnostics entirely and Caroline's advice for anyone weighing up a leap into founding a company.
Timestamps
[00:02:00] Why She Gave Up a Faculty Position Most Scientists Chase
[00:03:32] Learning to Be a Founder Before Making the Leap
[00:05:38] Epitranscriptomics Explained in Plain Terms
[00:09:07] The Prodromal Phase and Detecting MS Before Symptoms
[00:11:31] Why Reimbursement Is Built for Reactive Medicine
[00:13:45] What Most People Do Not Understand About Living With MS
[00:15:20] Could This Replace the Spinal Tap and Repeat MRIs?
[00:17:39] The Operational Chaos Nobody Warns First-Time Founders About
[00:19:48] Why So Many Life Science Investors Will Not Touch Diagnostics
[00:22:30] Why Nobody Has Done This Before: Sample Access as a Moat
#106 What Notified Bodies Actually Look For with Sandy Wright: Why SaMD Submissions Fail, the EU AI Act and Getting to Market Faster
Episode 106
Monday, August 31, 2026 • Duration 25:41
Sandy Wright, Head of Devices at Scarlet, the first notified body built specifically around software as a medical device. A former doctor who moved from clinical practice into digital health. Sandy now sits on the assessment side of the table, reviewing the very submissions most manufacturers dread putting together.
In this episode, we start with the question that trips up so many companies. What actually turns a piece of software into a medical device and why is the wellness boundary still so blurry that entire businesses are straddling the divide without realising it. Sandy shares some of the more unusual examples out there, including AI ambient scribes and augmented reality tools that let surgeons revisit patient scans mid-operation.
We then go inside Scarlet itself. Sandy explains why they see themselves as a technology company first and a notified body second, how a combination of expertise, redesigned process and their own internal tooling means customers are not sitting at the back of a queue for months and what genuinely drives faster conformity assessment.
The most valuable part for anyone in this space is Sandy's breakdown of where nonconformities actually come from. Clinical evaluation, post-market clinical follow up treated as an afterthought, incomplete software requirements and risk analyses that are too narrow. We also cover the EU AI Act and how it may or may not intersect with MDR, what makes a genuinely good PCCP and Sandy's parting advice on the underrated power of narrative in a regulatory submission.
Timestamps
[00:01:00] What Actually Turns Software Into a Medical Device
[00:03:39] AI Scribes and AR Headsets: SaMD You Might Not Expect
[00:06:10] Why Scarlet Sees Itself as a Technology Company First
[00:08:43] How Scarlet Cut Assessment Timelines Without Cutting Corners
[00:12:12] Clinical Evaluation: The Most Common Source of Findings
[00:13:18] Why Post-Market Clinical Follow Up Is Treated as an Afterthought
#105 Inside the Transplant Industry with Tom Daulton: The Device Keeping Donated Organs Alive, Why the US Dominates Transplants and Building in a Niche Market
Episode 105
Monday, August 17, 2026 • Duration 27:57
Tom Daulton, CEO of Organ Recovery Systems, who has spent over 40 years in interventional medicine and building healthcare companies. Twelve months ago he knew very little about the transplant world. Today he runs one of the most fascinating businesses in it.
In this episode, Tom explains what makes transplant unlike anything else in medicine, a field where sadly a patient has to die for another to live and where there is no pharmaceutical fallback the way dialysis can bridge a failing kidney. He breaks down why over 80% of transplants happen in the US, why the real bottleneck is donor supply rather than surgical capacity and how organs actually move across the country against a ticking clock.
We get into the technology at the heart of the business, the egg-shaped hypothermic perfusion device roughly the size of a carry-on that keeps a donated organ stable and monitored for over 24 hours, GPS telemetry and all, a world away from the cardboard box of ice that used to be standard. Tom walks us through what an organ procurement facility looks like from the inside, why each organ needs its own dedicated device and what is coming next after kidney and liver.
Finally, Tom shares hard-won advice for anyone building in a small niche market with real emotional weight, why you have to hire the experts, why falling in love with your product is a trap and why every niche business has to prove it is safer, faster, cheaper or better for outcomes. He closes on the tagline he lives by: be hungry and humble.
Timestamps
[00:01:35] From 40 Years in Interventional Medicine to the Transplant World
[00:03:53] The Business Where a Patient Has to Die for Another to Live
[00:05:11] Why Over 80% of Transplants Happen in the US
[00:07:38] Not Enough Facilities or Not Enough Donors?
[00:09:16] Inside the Egg: What the Perfusion Device Actually Does
[00:13:28] How Organs Were Moved Before: A Cardboard Box of Ice
#104 From Investor to Inventor with Joanna Nathan: Rethinking Early Stage Lung Cancer Surgery, Raising Capital and the Changing Face of the Disease
Episode 104
Monday, August 3, 2026 • Duration 24:37
Joanna Nathan, CEO and co-founder of Prana Surgical, adjunct professor at Rice University and a former MedTech investor who spent years at the J&J MedTech Center for Device Innovation before crossing over into building herself. Her company recently secured FDA clearance for the Prana System, a tissue-sparing platform rethinking how early stage lung cancer is diagnosed and treated.
In this episode, Joanna shares the deeply personal story behind her move from investing back into operating, having lost her four year old son in 2021 and wanting proximity to patient impact rather than evaluating innovation from the sidelines. It is an honest and moving conversation about what actually drives someone to take on a decade-long mission.
We get into what she learned watching hundreds of pitches from the investor seat, why a no is very often about portfolio construction and timing rather than the quality of your idea, and why a fundraising pitch is a vision document backed by evidence rather than a journal article. Joanna then breaks down the problem Prana is solving, why removing large portions of lung for a tiny early stage nodule is no longer justifiable and how the system is right-sized for the level of risk these smaller lesions present.
We also explore the changing face of lung cancer, the rise of never smokers now approaching one in three patients, why the disease is getting younger and more female, the role of mobile screening in rural areas and where AI genuinely helps rather than replaces clinical judgement. Joanna closes with hard-won advice for anyone thinking about founding a company and why community is what carries you through.
Timestamps
[00:01:38] From Research to Investing to Building: The Path Back to Operating
[00:03:33] Why a No From an Investor Is Rarely About Your Idea
[00:05:29] Why a Pitch Is a Vision Document Not a Journal Article
[00:07:16] The Problem With Early Stage Lung Cancer Surgery Today
[00:09:22] The Rise of Never Smokers and a Disease That Is Changing Fast
#103 Why Faster Is Not Always Better with Basant Bajpai: EU MDR vs FDA, the GCC Regulatory Landscape and Where Innovators Get Stuck
Episode 103
Monday, July 20, 2026 • Duration 26:03
Dr. Basant Bajpai CEO of Compliance MedQRA, a UAE-based consulting company specializing in Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, AI governance and compliance for medical devices, SaMD, AI/ML health technologies and digital health solutions. He holds a PhD in Neuroscience focused on brain monitoring and neurotechnology and has more than 12 years of international experience supporting MedTech and digital health companies across Europe, the Middle East and the United States.
He explains why regulatory and quality is still one of the most misunderstood functions in MedTech and why so many innovators treat it as a documentation exercise until it becomes an expensive problem at the worst possible moment. We get into the question every founder asks, how long will this take and what will it cost and why there is genuinely no straight answer without first building a proper regulatory strategy.
We also tackle the growing trend of companies choosing the US over EU MDR simply because it looks faster. Basant makes the case that regulatory approval alone does not guarantee commercial entry, why reimbursement codes should shape your market choice more than approval timelines and why he now finds EU MDR more convenient than many people expect. He also shares a contrarian view on device classification and why staying in the lowest risk class is not always the smart play.
Finally, we explore the GCC regulatory landscape, which Basant argues is not less regulated but differently regulated, with data compliance requirements he found tougher than GDPR or HIPAA. He closes with a clear message on AI in healthcare and why he does not believe regulators will ever allow a clinician to be replaced.
Timestamps
[00:01:23] From Biomedical Engineering to a First Audit That Changed Everything
[00:03:33] Why Everyone Thinks Regulatory Is Just a Documentation Department
[00:06:07] How Long Will It Take and What Will It Cost: The Impossible Question
[00:09:35] EU MDR vs FDA: Why Reimbursement Should Drive the Decision
#102 The End of the Amyloid Era with Isaac Stoner: Treating Alzheimer's as a Disease of the Immune System
Episode 102
Monday, June 1, 2026 • Duration 25:41
Isaac Stoner, CEO of MindImmune Therapeutics, a drug discovery company pioneering a new class of medicines for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
Isaac has built his career moving between the founder seat and the investor seat. He was the founding CEO of Octagon Therapeutics, the first team member at liquid biopsy company Firefly BioWorks and has evaluated life science companies for investment at Slater Technology Fund, PureTech Health, KdT and Action Potential Venture Capital. At MindImmune Therapeutics, he is chasing one of the boldest ideas in neuroscience: that Alzheimer's may in fact be an autoimmune disease that presents in the brain.
In this episode Isaac explains why the amyloid hypothesis that has dominated Alzheimer's research for 30 years has run its course, and why MindImmune is taking an immunology-first approach built on brain tissue donated by Alzheimer's patients. He breaks down the three biggest risk factors for the disease, how he pitched a 30 million dollar Series A on a condition where 99.9% of drugs have failed and what it would mean to develop a therapy bigger than the GLP-1 weight loss drugs.
We also get into the founder-to-investor-to-founder journey, why a brilliant scientific founder is often the wrong person to sit in the CEO seat and the hard truths every aspiring biotech founder needs to hear before striking out on their own.
Timestamps
[00:02:50] Why a Career Investor Keeps Getting Pulled Back Into Building
[00:05:25] Shutting Down Octagon Therapeutics and the Chip It Left Behind
[00:07:10] Why MindImmune Treats Alzheimer's as an Autoimmune Disease
[00:08:20] Why 30 Years of the Amyloid Hypothesis Has Run Its Course
[00:10:05] The Three Biggest Risk Factors for Alzheimer's and What You Can Do
[00:12:15] How He Raised a $30 Million Series A on the Hardest Disease in Medicine
[00:15:30] Why 99.9% of Alzheimer's Drugs Fail and What Makes This Different
#101 When Great Technology Is Not Enough with Shai Policker: Why most MedTech Startups Still Fail, Venture Studios vs VC and the Israeli Edge
Episode 101
Monday, May 4, 2026 • Duration 24:07
Shai Policker, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Edge Medical Ventures, a medtech venture studio and fund focused on developing and investing in medical devices that address unmet clinical needs. With a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, an MBA from Columbia Business School and over 25 years building medical device companies, Shai has founded or scaled 18 companies across cardiovascular care, surgery and respiratory health, filing more than 40 patents along the way.
In this episode, Shai cuts straight to something most investors won't say out loud: that even a great technology with strong clinical data can still fail. Not because the product is wrong but because the process takes too long and the funding runs out. He breaks down the fragmented decision-making landscape in healthcare, why physicians loving your product means almost nothing if the payer isn't on board and why reimbursement is the real gatekeeper that kills more companies than bad science ever will.
We also explore what makes Edge Medical Ventures different from a traditional VC fund. Shai explains how their venture studio model starts from validated unmet needs with a strategic partner already at the table and how their hands-on go-to-market support continues well past the R&D phase. A combination that helped one portfolio company go from zero to FDA approval with distribution agreements and paying customers on just $2.5 million. We also get into the Israeli startup mindset, the right way to think about IP and patents and how to know when a founder should step aside.
Timestamps
[00:00:17] What Pulled an Electrical Engineer Into MedTech 25 Years Ago
[00:01:48] What 18 Companies Taught Shai That One Never Could
[00:03:04] How to Know If the Problem Is Painful Enough to Build Around
[00:04:56] Why 80% of MedTech Startups Fail Even With Great Technology
[00:07:53] What a Venture Studio Actually Is and How It Differs From a VC Fund
[00:10:51] The $2.5 Million Company That Got FDA Approval and Started Selling
#100 Early Stage vs Commercial MedTech with Cristiano Fontana: The 97% of MedTech Nobody Talks About, Getting Innovation to Market and What MedTech Conferences Are Getting Wrong
Episode 100
Monday, April 20, 2026 • Duration 33:10
Cristiano Fontana, founder and CEO of Three Bridges, a Milan-based advisory firm helping early-stage MedTech companies navigate the full journey from innovation to market. With over 25 years in the industry starting in the family warehouse handling surgical drains and prostheses as a teenager, Cristiano has a perspective on this business that very few people can match.
In this episode, we kick things off with something a little different: a conversation about dressing well, the discipline behind it and why confidence is as much about how you present yourself as what you know. From there, we get into something both of us have strong opinions on. Cristiano breaks down why the conference ROI is so hard to measure, why ghosting has become an epidemic in the industry and why the real payoff from an event can take three years to materialise. He also delivers one of the most honest assessments you'll hear: that early-stage MedTech is just 3% of the industry and that the 97%, the commercial machine that actually drives revenue, is largely invisible to the innovation bubble.
We also explore what a better event model could look like, why trust beats value proposition every single time in a crowded advisory market and what innovators consistently get wrong when they think one conference pitch will change everything.
Timestamps
[00:00:33] Why Dressing Well Is a Form of Discipline, Not Vanity
[00:05:00] From the Family Warehouse to 25 Years in MedTech
[00:07:48] The 97% vs 3% Split That Nobody in Early Stage Wants to Hear
[00:08:37] What MedTech Conferences Are Getting Wrong
[00:09:35] The Ghosting Epidemic and What It Reveals About Human Nature
[00:10:14] Why Conference ROI Can Take Three Years to Show Up
[00:12:30] You Don't Sell on Value Proposition, You Sell on Trust
[00:13:17] The Uncomfortable Truth About So-Called Investors at Events
#99 Stop Calling It AI: Machine Learning, LLMs and the Truth About Healthcare Automation with Manish Patel
Monday, April 6, 2026 • Duration 21:54
Dr. Manish Patel, co-founder and CEO of Jiva.ai and Chair of the AI Subcommittee at the BIA, where he advises the UK Government on AI policy, data privacy and healthcare applications. With a PhD in Modelling of Complex Systems from UCL and nearly a decade building algorithmic trading systems in investment banking, Manish brings a rare depth of perspective to the most overhyped term in healthcare right now.
In this episode, we cut through the noise on AI. Manish challenges the very language we use, explaining why most of what gets called "AI" is really machine learning, why large language models are fundamentally not intelligent and why that distinction has very real consequences when lives are on the line. We look at where AI genuinely adds value in healthcare, from radiology to NHS administrative workflows, and where it is being dangerously overhyped, including some very pointed thoughts on using consumer-grade LLMs to make clinical diagnoses.
We also explore how clinicians should think about AI as an augmenter rather than a replacement, why the productivity gains are real and where Manish believes the biggest untapped opportunity in healthcare actually sits. He closes with a frank take on what impressive AI looks like in a real clinical environment versus a polished demo and why the world is heading toward a very small group of people who truly understand what is happening under the hood.
Thanks for tuning in to Episode 99. Don't forget to subscribe and check the show notes to learn more about Manish's work at Jiva.ai and his advisory role shaping UK AI policy in healthcare.
Timestamps
[00:00:28] From the Human Genome Project to Machine Learning: Manish's Academic Origins
[00:02:09] AI Has Been Around Since the 1950s: The History Most People Don't Know
[00:04:09] Why Tacking "AI" onto Your Product Name Is a Problem
[00:05:24] Where Healthcare AI Really Is: Step Three Not Step 100
[00:06:06] Why Using Grok for Medical Diagnosis IsDangerous
[00:09:48] Should Clinicians Be Scared AI Will Take Their Jobs?[00:12:18] How to Actually Start Learning About AI: Where to Begin
#98 The Hidden Cost of Bad MedTech Strategy: Women’s Health, Reimbursement and What Founders Miss with Jordan Pollack
Episode 98
Monday, March 23, 2026 • Duration 25:23
Jordan Pollack, biomedical engineer, entrepreneur and CEO of Sub-Q Bionics. Jordan began his career at Boston Scientific, later founded VeinWay in Israel and is now focused on building a new treatment paradigm for lymphoedema in cancer survivors.
In this episode, we explore what actually creates momentum in MedTech, from networking with intent to building the resilience needed to survive the founder journey. Jordan shares why conferences alone rarely deliver results, how warm introductions and targeted roadshows outperform generic networking and what he had to unlearn after leaving corporate structure behind to become a startup CEO. He also offers a brutally honest take on entrepreneurship, explaining why the role is not for everyone and why persistence, resilience and equanimity matter more than titles or ambition alone.
We also go deep into the story behind Sub-Q Bionics and why Jordan chose to focus on lymphoedema, particularly in women recovering from cancer treatment. He explains the clinical reality of the disease, the lack of meaningful treatment options beyond maintenance, and why reimbursement, not just good technology, is often the deciding factor in whether a device company succeeds. Along the way, he shares sharp insights on women’s health being chronically underfunded, the differences between the U.S. and Israeli startup ecosystems, and why mission-led companies are far more likely to stay the course when things get hard.
Timestamps
[00:00:32] Why Generic Conferences Rarely Create Real MedTech Opportunity [00:02:05] How Networking Shaped Jordan’s Move from Boston Scientific to Israel [00:03:29] What Corporate MedTech Taught Him and What He Had to Unlearn [00:05:54] Why Being a Founder Is Not for Everyone [00:08:49] The Origin of Sub-Q Bionics and the Shift Toward True Disease Treatment [00:11:53] What Lymphoedema Actually Is and Why It Is So Devastating [00:14:06] Why Women’s Health Remains Underfunded and Where Innovation Is Emerging [00:18:25] Why Reimbursement Matters More Than Technology Alone [00:20:58] U.S. vs Israel: Two Very Different Startup Ecosystems[00:25:10] Balancing Founder Life, Health, Travel and Relationships
[00:16:20] Risk Management and Why a Narrow Lens Causes Problems
[00:16:55] The EU AI Act and How It May Intersect With MDR
[00:19:56] From Foundation Doctor to Babylon Health and Beyond
[00:22:42] What Separates a Good PCCP From a Box-Ticking One
Discover shows related to The MedTech Podcast, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
