Delphinus Appoints New Vice President of Engineering

Delphinus Medical Technologies Inc., developer of advanced breast ultrasound technology, has named global research and development expert Bruno Dacquay as its new vice president of engineering.

Dacquay brings to Delphinus decades of experience developing sophisticated medical devices that have been adopted and commercialized broadly in markets worldwide. In his new role, Dacquay will guide all aspects of the company’s technology and product development as it continues a large clinical study initiative to obtain a supplemental screening indication for and then commercialize SoftVue. SoftVue is a whole breast ultrasound system that allows physicians to image the entire breast for diagnostic imaging purposes.*
 
“I am thrilled to welcome Bruno to the Delphinus executive leadership team,” said Mark J. Forchette, president and CEO of Delphinus. “We have had many years of professional collaboration together, and as a result, I know from experience that he is an innovative engineering leader with a proven track record of delivering breakthrough technologies that transform medical device markets.”
 
Dacquay joins Delphinus after nearly three decades at Alcon (currently a division of Novartis), where he most recently served as vice president and franchise head, Surgical R&D, and vice president of Surgical Instrumentation R&D. While there, he was also recognized as a top organizational leader and promoted to the Novartis corporate executive group. Dacquay began his career at French company Biophysic Medical (acquired by Alcon in 1993), where he held various positions of increasing responsibility over a period of 12 years. He retired from Alcon in December 2016 and successfully founded BrighTech Consulting, an organization that helps medical technology companies improve product development efficiencies, from ideation to launch, and achieve organization excellence.
 
“I am honored to join Delphinus because of its deep commitment to transforming early detection of breast cancer and saving lives,” said Dacquay. “Mark and I have worked together extensively in our careers, and we are deeply aligned in our philosophies of innovation and execution. The talent of the team is also apparent in the work that has been done to develop SoftVue, and our line of sight to success is clear. I look forward to working together to advance and deliver our innovations like a well-oiled machine.”
 
As an ultrasound technology, SoftVue offers the potential to not only assist physicians in finding more cancers, but also to reduce the false positive rates that have troubled other breast imaging techniques. SoftVue’s design incorporates a circular ultrasound transducer featuring proprietary TriAD (triple acoustic detection) technology that is unique to medical imaging. This multi-dimensional advancement presents cross-sectional ultrasound slices through the entire volume of breast tissue, capturing not only reflected echoes in a 360-degree array, but also signals passing through the breast, depicting tissue characterization.
 
Headquartered in Novi, Mich., with a satellite office in Sunnyvale, Calif., Delphinus Medical Technologies is a medical imaging company that has developed SoftVue, the first and only circular array transducer with TriAD (triple acoustic detection) technology that has received sequential U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearances. The patented technology is a whole breast ultrasound imaging device that delivers no radiation, requires no compression, and images the entire breast with a single scan. SoftVue is indicated for use as a B-mode ultrasonic imaging system and is not intended to be used as a replacement for screening mammography. Delphinus was founded as a spin out of the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit and is capitalized through principal investments by Arboretum Ventures, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Beringea, Farmington Hills, Mich.; North Coast Technology Investors, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Venture Investors, Madison, Wis.; Hopen Life Science Ventures, Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Waycross Ventures, Menlo Park, Calif.
 
* SoftVue is indicated for use as a B-mode ultrasonic imaging system and is not intended to be used as a replacement for screening mammography.