About Us

Clear Catheter Systems Clear Catheter Systems is a Bend, Oregon based medical device company pioneering new technologies that will revolutionize medical tube drainage. The company is developing its anti-clogging platform of surgical drainage devices. The company’s lead product is the PleuraFlow® Active Tube Clearance® System. By solving the clogging problem the company’s products will allow doctors to manage bleeding and clogging in large diameter chest tubes in a safer fashion. A further benefit is that surgeons will be able to utilize minimally invasive drainage tubes, resulting in a reduction in concern for clogging and increased patient comfort. The company has a pipeline of products based on its proprietary tube clearance technology to treat tube clogging in other medical market segments, including its system for the urinary catheter drainage market, and GastroFlow catheter system, for the enteral feeding market sector as well as systems for standard surgical drains.

Board of Directors Edward Boyle, MD Chief Executive Officer, Clear Catheter Systems Andrew Firlik, MD, Founder,  general partner, Foundation Medical Partners Ned Scheetz, Managing Director, Aphelion Capital Alexander Suh, Founding Managing Director, California Technology Ventures

Edward M. Boyle, Jr., MD
Chief Executive Officer, Clear Catheter Systems
emb@clearcatheter.com
541-382-2533

Dr. Boyle is a Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon in Bend, Oregon. Dr. Boyle is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Chest Physicians. He studied medicine at University of Minnesota Medical School, and trained in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Washington.

During his clinical training at the University of Washington, he led the Cardiovascular Vascular Biology research team where he developed basic science and clinical research programs, primarily focusing on the study of tissue injury, coagulation and inflammation. has published over 75 manuscripts in peer reviewed medical journals and textbooks. In addition to obtaining NIH funding, he played the lead role in developing research collaborations with Bayer’s Pharmaceutical Division, Genentech, Zymogenetics/Novo Nordisk, Icos Corporation, US Surgical Corporation (now Covidient Healthcare) and other privately held biotechnology and device companies. This research program was recognized nationally with awards from the American College of Surgeons, the American Heart Association, The Western Thoracic Surgery Association, the Seattle Surgical Society and others.

Dr. Boyle was a founder of Elixis, a healthcare information technology company which was acquired by Data Critical Corporation (NASDAQ: DCCA), now a division of General Electric (NYSE: GE). Dr. Boyle is the founder of Medical Device Innovations, Clear Catheter Systems and Precision Thoracic Corporation, early stage medical device companies where he is an inventor on a number of medical devices patent applications.

Sri Rao
Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Clear Catheter Systems
srao@clearcatheter.com

Mr. Rao has 18 years of sales and management experience in the medical device field. His focus has been almost entirely cardiac surgery, and for the last 12 years has been with startup medical device companies specializing in introducing new products to the market. Most recently he was in Sales Management at Estech, a cardiac surgery focused company where he managed a sales force with a focus on RF ablation, valve replacement and repair, and coronary artery bypass grafting. Prior, Mr. Rao held Sales and Sales Management positions at ATS Medical (Acquired by Medtronic), Cryogen Inc. (Acquired by American Medical), VIA Medical, and US Surgical (now Covidien). Mr. Rao has a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University, School of Engineering and Technology.

Andrew Firlik M.D., Founder

Dr. Firlik’s career spans neurosurgery, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. He joined Foundation Medical Partners to concentrate on medical device and biopharmaceutical investments. Prior to Foundation, he was a venture partner at Sprout Group and Managing Director of its healthcare technology spinout, New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, he was a principal at Canaan Partners. Dr. Firlik has led numerous venture capital investments and has served as a founder, founding investor, or director of many early stage companies that have grown to become successful market leaders.

Dr. Firlik was a founder and an inventor of the core technology platform of Northstar Neuroscience, a medical device company that pioneered a novel approach to neuromodulation for the treatment of stroke and other disorders.  Northstar went public in an IPO in 2006 (NASDAQ: NSTR) and was subsequently acquired by St. Jude Medical.  He recently served as the Chairman of Intelect Medical (acquired by Boston Scientific, NYSE: BSX), a neuromodulation company, and recently served as Chairman of NovaVision, a medical therapeutics firm focusing on neuroplasticity for visual disorders. His current or recent board seats include BridgePoint Medical, Clear Catheter Systems, Explorys,NeuroVista, SetPoint Medical, Spine Wave, Vertos Medical, and Visiogen (acquired by Abbott, NYSE: ABT). Dr. Firlik is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of the Cleveland Clinic Innovations Center. He recently served as a member of the Administrative Board of the Cornell University Council and Chairman of its Technology Transfer Committee and also the Cornell University Biomedical Engineering Advisory Council and the Life Sciences Advisory Board.

Dr. Firlik spent 12 years in the healthcare profession during his medical training and practice as a neurological surgeon. He has published more than 50 articles in the medical literature, written chapters for several medical textbooks, and is the co-editor of a book about cerebrovascular surgery. His scientific work has been presented at many international conferences. He has been an inventor of numerous issued patents.

He studied biology at Cornell University and Oxford University, received his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, and his MD from Cornell University Medical College. As a board certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Firlik most recently served as Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the New York University School of Medicine.

Ned Scheetz
Managing Director, Aphelion Capital

Mr. Scheetz founded Aphelion Capital, LLC in 2005. Prior to forming Aphelion, Mr. Scheetz was a partner and managing director with Piper Jaffray Ventures (PJV) for nearly eight years, focusing on investments in emerging medical technology companies.  Mr. Scheetz joined PJV from Janus Capital, where he was a senior research analyst covering medical technology.   Before beginning his investment career Mr. Scheetz worked in various product management roles with a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak and in sales with Kraft General Foods.

Mr. Scheetz is a graduate of Colby College, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and was a post-graduate scholar at Oxford University. Mr. Scheetz holds the CFA designation, and is a board member of Clear Catheter Systems, Curant, OrthAlign, and SurgiQuest. Mr. Scheetz is an advisory board member with the Center for Medical Device Innovation, and on the business advisory board of The Epilepsy Therapy Development Project.

Alexander Suh
Founding Managing Director, California Technology Ventures

Mr. Suh is a founding Managing Director with California Technology Ventures, LLC, a Southern California venture capital firm that focuses its investments in the fields of Life Sciences and Information Technology.  Mr. Suh is the managing director that invests in Life Sciences as well as Information Technology. Mr. Suh is also a founding Managing Director with J.J. Jacobs Enterprises, LLC and Jacobs Capital Group, LLC, both Pasadena-based venture capital and fund-of-fund firms where he has invested in other venture capital funds globally that offer a strategic fit with California Technology Ventures. Before co-founding Jacobs Enterprises, Jacobs Capital Group and California Technology Ventures, Mr. Suh was an entrepreneur starting several businesses, helped develop the first small business incubator in the San Gabriel Valley, managed several small business lending programs, consulted with nonprofits and cities on economic development projects and taught college in entrepreneurship, business and management.

His community involvement included past president to Villa Esperanza, a school for developmentally challenged persons; distinguished president for Kiwanis; Advisory board member for Women at Work and the Crippled Children’s Society; Special Olympics coach and more.  Mr. Suh graduated with honors from the University of Denver’s School of Business with a B.S.B.A. in Management.