A new breast surgery marker device, developed by a company founded by three UW-Madison faculty, is expected to be used by about 15 hospital systems by the end of January.

The system, approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in April, uses wireless technology, instead of a protruding wire, to help surgeons locate and remove breast tumors. UW Health and SSM Health Dean Medical Group are using it.

The technology was developed by Elucent Medical, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The company was founded by Dr. Lee Wilke, director of the UW Health Breast Center; Dr. Fred Lee Jr., a UW-Madison professor of radiology; Daniel van der Weide, a UW-Madison professor of engineering; and CEO Laura King, of Milwaukee.

The UW-Madison faculty and a few of Elucent’s 30 employees are in Madison, but most are in Minnesota.

Lee and Van der Weide co-founded, and King led, NeuWave Medical, a microwave ablation start-up in Madison sold in 2016 to Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon division.

Elucent’s technology presents a new way to locate tumors and remove them through breast cancer surgeries known as lumpectomies. Read the full story here.