Phantom GI bets on a percutaneous ostomy route for patients shut out of surgery
Phantom GI has emerged from stealth with a $5 million seed round and an ambitious goal: build a minimally invasive alternative to traditional ostomy surgery for patients with bowel obstruction who are too sick to undergo an operation. The Tel Aviv-based startup is developing PercStoma, a device designed to create a colostomy or ileostomy under image guidance, without the need for general anesthesia. In a field where frailty often determines whether a patient receives a procedure or palliative care alone, the concept is aimed squarely at a group with few remaining options.
The funding round was led by Pitango Healthcare, with participation from RAD Biomed and RUNI Ventures. Phantom GI says the capital will support further development of the device and the first phase of U.S. clinical studies. The company is currently running a pre-clinical study and plans clinical cases for early 2027 in preparation for eventual regulatory submission.
Patients with advanced malignancy and mechanical bowel obstruction can deteriorate quickly. When obstruction becomes irreversible and conventional surgery is too risky, the path often narrows to symptom relief rather than restoration of feeding or bowel function. A device that can create a usable stoma in a shorter, less physiologically stressful procedure would address a genuine therapeutic gap, especially if it can be deployed in patients who are currently considered ineligible for surgery.
A three-step image-guided procedure built for unstable patients
PercStoma is positioned as a kit that allows a certified physician to create a stoma in three steps. First, the clinician reviews CT imaging and selects an appropriate bowel loop. Next, the bowel loop is accessed with a patent-pending needle that is preloaded with a fixation device. Under fluoroscopic guidance, that fixation device approximates the bowel loop to the abdominal wall. In the final step, a proprietary stent is delivered into the bowel and deployed in stages, first in the bowel and then onto the skin surface, creating a fluid-sealed conduit. A standard stoma bag can then be placed over the new opening.
The engineering matters because ostomy surgery is not simply about diverting stool; it is about reliably connecting bowel to skin while avoiding leak, ischemia, misalignment, and a cascade of wound complications. By reducing the procedure to an image-guided percutaneous workflow, Phantom GI is trying to preserve the core surgical objective while stripping away the physiologic burden of open or laparoscopic surgery.
The company says the procedure can be completed in 20 minutes and does not require anesthesia. If those claims hold up in human studies, the device could change the risk calculus for patients who are too unstable for an operating room but still need a functional diversion to eat and live with less distress.
PercStoma is also being framed as potentially useful beyond the sickest subgroup. Phantom GI believes that even patients who qualify for standard ostomy surgery may eventually prefer a percutaneous option if it proves safer, faster, and easier to reverse. Traditional ostomy reversal generally requires another operation. The company says it is developing a reversal process that could take only two minutes.
The unmet need is defined by patients who cannot get to the operating room
A central part of Phantom GI’s argument is the size of the untreated population. The company estimates that as many as 55,000 U.S. patients annually could benefit from an alternative because they are too ill to undergo traditional ostomy surgery. It also estimates that roughly 300,000 U.S. patients each year require ostomy surgery overall, suggesting that a successful device could expand the addressable market if it can meet this more vulnerable need.
Those numbers point to a clinical reality that has long been easy to overlook: not every obstruction patient arrives at surgery with enough reserve to survive the standard route. Severe cancer burden, systemic decline, and the metabolic toll of obstruction can make general anesthesia and a formal operation prohibitive. For this group, the relevant question is not whether surgery is preferred in theory, but whether any procedure can be performed safely enough to restore bowel output and permit oral intake.
Ido Sadan, Phantom GI’s CEO and cofounder, said in effect that inoperable patients with bowel obstruction currently have no treatment options and are often palliated for their remaining days without the ability to eat. He described PercStoma as the first real treatment option for that population, with the potential to allow eating, extend life, and reduce morbidity.
That statement reflects the clinical stakes. In bowel obstruction, the difference between diversion and palliation is not academic; it determines whether a patient can leave the cycle of nausea, vomiting, dehydration, and starvation. Even a modestly invasive solution could alter symptom burden and preserve enough nutrition to support remaining treatment or a more tolerable end-of-life course.
Early clinical use will determine whether the concept survives contact with reality
The idea behind PercStoma did not arise in a vacuum. Phantom GI’s chief medical officer, Eran Shlomovitz, treated a young woman with bowel obstruction from advanced malignancy by using existing medical devices and imaging guidance to create a percutaneous stoma. That case inspired the company’s development program and provides the clinical logic for the device platform.
Case-driven innovation can be powerful, but it also carries a familiar hazard: a striking bedside success can conceal technical complexity that only emerges when the procedure is repeated across a broader patient population. Safety and efficacy still have to be established. The device will need to demonstrate that it can reliably create a durable stoma, avoid injury to bowel or abdominal wall structures, and perform consistently in patients whose anatomy and illness severity may be unpredictable.
Regulatory progress will hinge on complications, durability, and reversal performance
Phantom GI plans to use the seed financing to push into U.S. clinical work and support an eventual regulatory submission. That path will likely hinge on more than procedural speed. The critical questions will be whether the device can maintain a seal, avoid leakage, preserve tissue viability, and support practical ostomy care after placement. The promised reversal feature will also attract scrutiny, because a two-minute reversal claim sets a high bar for technical proof and real-world reproducibility.
For now, PercStoma sits at an early translational stage, with pre-clinical work ongoing and early 2027 listed for planned clinical cases. The company is betting that percutaneous access, imaging guidance, and a less invasive fixation-and-stenting sequence can replace a major operation in a population that often cannot withstand one. If the device performs as intended, it could move ostomy creation from the operating room to a shorter, image-guided bedside-style intervention. If it falls short on sealing, durability, or safety, the concept will remain an elegant answer to a problem that still demands proof.