EIB Provides €20 Million in Financing to SamanTree Medical for Real-Time Microscopy for Surgical Procedures

LUXEMBOURG & BRUSSELS & LIEGE, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 27, 2026--

SamanTree Medical, a European leader in surgical imaging innovation, has secured €20 million in financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The operation is backed by InvestEU, the EU’s flagship program to mobilize over €372 billion in additional investment from 2021 to 2027.

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The financing supports the development of an advanced confocal microscopy scanner for rapid imaging of the internal microstructure of tissue samples during surgical procedures. Furthermore, the financing will support SamanTree Medical’s research, development and innovative activities, including continued development and advancement of its Histolog® Scanner

The EIB financing is provided through the Bank’s Venture Debt Instrument and is designed to support highly innovative companies undertaking research-intensive development activities.

“The support of the European Investment Bank represents an important milestone for SamanTree,” said Olivier Delporte, CEO of SamanTree Medical. “This financing allows us to accelerate development of the Histolog Scanner and expand our commercial presence across Europe and the United States. The rigorous due diligence process undertaken by the EIB reflects the importance of our innovative technology, our development plan and our long-term vision for advancing real-time, high-resolution imaging for excised tissue.”

“ Our investment in SamanTree Medical reflects the EIB’s long-standing commitment to advancing medical innovation across Europe,” said EIB Director Alessandro Izzo. “By supporting med‑tech companies through venture debt, a tool that helps entrepreneurs accelerate growth and bring cutting-edge technologies to patients sooner, we make sure that key medical tech companies can grow and thrive in Europe. Supporting innovators like SamanTree Medical is central to our mission of driving positive impact for patients and healthcare systems.”

The advanced technique of the Histolog Scanner enables it to capture nearly 30,000 images simultaneously, rather than one at a time, producing high-resolution, histology-like images in approximately one minute without damaging the specimen. This allows surgeons and pathologists to image tissue within minutes and determine whether abnormal cellular microstructures remain at the surgical site, while patients remain on the operating table. Used in more than 6,000 patients to date, physicians using the Histolog Scanner have demonstrated compelling results across multiple tissue types. In breast-conserving surgery, the SHIELD study showed that when physicians used the Histolog images for assessment, reoperation rates were lowered from 30% to 10%, a 67% reduction.

Research has also shown that Histolog is similar 1 when compared to intraoperative frozen-section analysis (the gold standard) for prostatectomies, while offering substantial time savings. Using Histolog for imaging and interpretation takes approximately 5-20 minutes, compared with 45-60 minutes for frozen section analysis. 2 Using the Histolog images, physicians have also demonstrated a sensitivity ranging from 73% - 91% and a specificity ranging from 91% to 100%, when compared to conventional pathology. 1,2,3 Additionally, studies have shown that intraoperative assessment allows surgeons to opt for more nerve-sparing surgeries, significantly reducing erectile dysfunction, a common side effect of a radical prostatectomy. 4

Background

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States.

Headquartered in Liège, Belgium, SamanTree Medical is a privately held company dedicated to improving oncologic surgery through innovative imaging solutions.

1https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39403832/
2https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36440864/
3IP8-FLUORESCE: A Prospective Paired Cohort Study Evaluating the Diagnostic Accuracy of Fluorescence Confocal Microscopy for Real-time Assessment of Surgical Margins in Radical Prostatectomy - PubMed
4https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(25)00091-9/fulltext

The advanced technique of the Histolog® Scanner enables it to capture nearly 30,000 images simultaneously, rather than one at a time, producing high-resolution, histology-like images in approximately one minute without damaging the specimen. This allows surgeons and pathologists to image tissue within minutes and determine whether abnormal cellular microstructures remain at the surgical site, while patients remain on the operating table. Used in more than 6,000 patients to date, physicians using the Histolog Scanner have demonstrated compelling results across multiple tissue types.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) provides €20 million in financing to SamanTree Medical, a leader in surgical imaging innovation. The financing supports the development of an advanced confocal microscopy scanner for rapid imaging of the internal microstructure of tissue samples during surgical procedures, R&D and continued development and advancement of the company's Histolog® Scanner, the first and only medical imaging device featuring massively parallel confocal microscopy. Shown: Alessandro Izzo, EIB Director (left) and Olivier Delporte, CEO of SamanTree Medical (right).

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he is increasing tariffs on South Korean goods because the country’s legislature has yet to approve the trade framework announced last year.

Trump said on social media that import taxes would be raised on autos, lumber and pharmaceutical drugs from South Korea with the rate on other goods going from 15% to 25%. The U.S. president previously imposed the tariffs by declaring an economic emergency and bypassing Congress, while South Korea needed legislative approval for the framework announced in July and affirmed during Trump's October visit to the country.

“Our Trade Deals are very important to America. In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to,” Trump said. “We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same.”

The threat was a reminder that the tariff drama unleashed last year by Trump is likely to be repeated again and again this year. The global economy and U.S. voters might find the world's trade structure constantly being subject to disruption and new negotiations as Trump has already sought to levy tariffs in order to bend other nations to his will.

Trump has in the past tied his tariffs to commitments by South Korea to invest $350 billion in the U.S. economy over several years, including efforts to revitalize American shipyards. But the Trump administration's relations with South Korea have at times been rocky with the raid last year by immigration officials at a Hyundai manufacturing site in Georgia in which 475 people were detained.

South Korea’s presidential office responded after a meeting of top South Korean officials that it will convey its commitment to implementing last year's deal to the U.S.

The presidential office said that South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-Kwan will travel to the U.S. for talks with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, while Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo will travel separately to meet with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Kim was on a visit to Canada.

South Korean lawmakers have submitted five bills on implementing South Korea's proposed $350 billion investment package to the National Assembly. The bills are currently before the assembly's finance committee.

Kim Hyun-jung, a spokesperson for South Korea's governing Democratic Party, said his party will coordinate with the government to organize swift debate and action on the bills.

Assembly officials said the five bills will likely be incorporated into a single proposed law, which will need approval from the finance and judiciary committees before it can go to a floor vote.

Trump's announcement of new tariffs fits a pattern in which Trump plans to continue to deploy tariffs, possibly to the detriment of relations with other countries.

Just last week, the president threatened tariffs on eight European nations unless the U.S. gained control of Greenland, only to pull back on his ultimatum after meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trump on Saturday said he would put a 100% tax on goods from Canada if it followed through with plans to bolster trade with China.

Trump has bragged about his trade frameworks as drawing in new investment to the U.S., yet many of his heavily hyped deals have yet to be finalized. The European Parliament has yet to approve a trade deal pushed by Trump that would put a 15% tax on the majority of goods exported by the EU's 27 member states.

The United States is poised this year to renegotiate its amended 2020 trade pact with Canada and Mexico. There are also ongoing Section 232 investigations under the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, as well as an upcoming Supreme Court decision on whether Trump exceeded his authority by declaring tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.

Vehicles for export are parked at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Vehicles for export are parked and shipping containers are seen at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Vehicles for export are parked at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung are seen on a screen at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving the World Economic Forum in Davos for Washington, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)