NDR Medical Technology will expand the clinical footprint of ANT-C beyond core diagnostic needle biopsies into multi-organ therapeutic interventions, focusing heavily on minimally invasive tumour ablation for liver, lung, and kidney cancers.
NDR Medical Technology, a
pioneer in AI-empowered interventional robotics, proudly announces that its
flagship Computed Tomography (CT)-guided
Automated Needle Targeting system, ANT-C, has officially received
regulatory approval from Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA). This
milestone is achieved through a robust clinical translation partnership with
Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and catalysed by Temasek Foundation.
SGH conducted the prospective study from June to September
2024 involving 30 patients who underwent diagnostic percutaneous lung biopsy using
the ANT-C system. The objective was to assess its technical feasibility and
clinical success.
The system successfully collected enough tissue for
diagnosis and advanced laboratory testing in all 30 patients, with the
procedure successfully completed in over 93 per cent of cases.
Image-guided percutaneous lung biopsy remains the primary
standard-of-care approach for diagnosing pulmonary nodules, even as other
methods continue to evolve. It is performed to obtain tissue samples from a
lung lesion to determine if it is cancerous or benign, and guide personalised
treatment based on molecular profiling. If the biopsy needle is not positioned
correctly, doctors may need to repeat the procedure to obtain the required
tissue sample. This can increase the risk of complications, including a
collapsed lung and lung bleeding.
The ANT-C system integrates medical image processing with a
lightweight robotic arm to assist doctors in executing accurate, swift
percutaneous needle punctures. The smart lesion targeting system uses CT-scan images to automate lesion detection, needle path planning, and
needle targeting with precision and accuracy. By translating 2D and 3D CT scan
data into precise real-time robotic alignment, the study further showed that patients’
radiation exposure was reduced and the procedure time was halved, from about 61
minutes in the first 10 cases to about 31 minutes in the last 10 cases using
the ANT-C system.
Next-Phase Expansion: Moving into Therapeutic Ablation
With diagnostic regulatory approval successfully secured,
NDR Medical Technology, in continued alignment with its clinical partners, is
advancing its pipeline into new and expanding areas of clinical
application. The system’s next phase of clinical deployment will pivot
from diagnosing lesions to actively destroying them via minimally invasive percutaneous ablation therapies, minimally
invasive medical procedures used to destroy abnormal tissue—most commonly small
tumours in the liver, kidney, lung, and bone—using specialised needle-like
probes inserted directly through the skin under image guidance.
The robotic navigation of the ANT-C platform is positioned
to handle the rigorous spatial tracking required for:
Tumour
Ablation Oncology: Delivering microwave (MWA), radiofrequency (RFA),
or cryoablation probes with millimetre precision to treat localised tumours
in the lungs, liver, and kidneys without open surgery.
Multi-Organ
Versatility: Extending the core automated trajectory planning software
to support complex, deep-seated targets across Pulmonology, Hepatology,
and Gastroenterology.
Optimised
Thermal Margins: Assisting interventional radiologists in placing
multi-probe ablation configurations perpendicularly, ensuring full thermal
coverage of tumour margins while preserving surrounding healthy tissue
structures.
“HSA approval for ANT-C validates our deep-tech journey
in transforming interventional accuracy,” said the management team at NDR
Medical Technology. “Partnering with SGH allowed our clinical workflows to
be fine-tuned for real world environments, while Temasek Foundation’s catalytic
support ensures that game-changing local innovations rapidly reach patients.
Moving seamlessly from diagnostic biopsies into therapeutic applications like
ablation represents our commitment to providing a holistic, end-to-end
interventional robotics platform.”
Clinical validation protocols conducted alongside SGH
specialists demonstrated that robotic assistance flattens the technical
learning curve for practitioners while improving diagnostic yields for
early-stage lesions.
“Innovation works best when clinicians and innovators work
hand in hand. By contributing clinical expertise and real-world healthcare
perspectives, SGH can help shape and evaluate solutions that address genuine
healthcare needs. Our hope is that successful innovations will ultimately
improve patient care not only in Singapore, but across the region,” said Associate
Professor Too Chow Wei, principal investigator of the study, and Senior
Consultant, Department of Vascular and Interventional Radiology at SGH.
Moving forward, NDR Medical Technology will push for the
system to be adopted by healthcare institutions in Singapore, setting a new
benchmark for smart surgical interventions.
The
findings were published online in peer-reviewed international medical journal, European Journal of Radiology,
in July 2026.
About NDR Medical Technology
Founded in Singapore, NDR Medical Technology specializes in AI-powered
automated needle targeting platforms designed to enhance precision, safety, and
operational efficiency in minimally invasive surgeries.
About Singapore General Hospital (SGH)
Singapore General
Hospital, established in 1821, is the largest
tertiary hospital in Singapore and consistently ranked among the 10 best
hospitals worldwide. It provides the most comprehensive patient-centred care
with over 50 clinical specialties on its campus. As an Academic Medical Centre,
it takes pride in training healthcare professionals and conducting cutting edge
research to meet evolving needs of the nation as well as the region. Driven by
a strong sense of purpose, SGH is committed to give of its best to heal and
bring hope, as it has for over 200 years.
This press release has also been published on VRITIMES
