Company Profile / Pediatric Medtech
Preceptis MedicalThe five-minute ear tube
A 12-person Minnesota company on a straightforward mission: take one of childhood's most common surgeries out of the operating room.
A 12-person Minnesota company on a straightforward mission: take one of childhood's most common surgeries out of the operating room.
Every year, close to a million American children get ear tubes to treat chronic ear infections. It is one of the most common pediatric surgeries in the country. And for decades the picture has looked the same: an ambulatory surgery center or hospital, an IV, general anesthesia, and a recovery room - all for a procedure that takes about five minutes.
Preceptis Medical, founded in 2011 in Golden Valley, Minnesota, asked whether the room was really necessary. Working with pediatric ear, nose and throat specialists, the company built the Hummingbird Tympanostomy Tube System (TTS), a handheld device that combines the separate tools and steps of a standard tube procedure into a single pass. The result is an FDA-cleared way to place ear tubes in the ENT's office, with the child awake, using only a topical anesthetic. Parents can stay in the room.
It is a narrow problem, deliberately. The company is small - roughly 12 people - and it is not trying to reinvent surgery. It is trying to move one everyday, expensive, anxiety-heavy procedure somewhere better.
The clinical worry behind the Hummingbird is specific: general anesthesia in very young children. For a routine, minutes-long procedure, an operating room and full sedation is a heavy apparatus. It carries cost, scheduling delays, fasting rules, and parental anxiety - and roughly 30% of children need more than one set of tubes, so the whole cycle can repeat.
Preceptis sells the Hummingbird to ENT surgeons and pediatric otolaryngology practices, who use it chairside. The ultimate beneficiaries are children as young as six months and the parents sitting beside them. The device is designed so the family experience is measured in minutes, not a lost day and a groggy recovery.
A 2025 study published in the Journal of Medical Economics made the financial case plainly: much of what an ear tube procedure costs is the location, not the tube. Moving the procedure to the office could save up to $3,743 per patient (about 65%) for a commercial health plan and up to $519 per patient (about 24%) for a Medicaid plan. Across the U.S., ear tube surgeries are estimated to run about $3.5 billion a year.
Illustrative comparison based on published commercial-payer figures. Actual savings vary by plan and setting.
"In-office ear tube placement in awake young children using only a topical anesthetic was safe, successful and well tolerated."
The flagship: a handheld system that performs the myringotomy incision and places the tube in one motion, in the office, with a topical anesthetic. Reported 99% procedural success in the office setting.
The original Hummingbird that established the single-pass approach to tympanostomy tube placement.
An updated device launched to support routine in-office pediatric ear tube procedures at scale.
A commercial program that partners with practices to build awareness and access among surgeons, payers, pediatricians, and parents.
Preceptis is one of a small group of companies moving tube placement into the office. Its closest competitor is Tusker Medical's Tula System, which anesthetizes the eardrum using an iontophoresis current before placing a tube; AventaMed's Solo+ is a comparable automated device cleared in Europe. The broad alternative remains the status quo: traditional tympanostomy under general anesthesia in a hospital or surgery center.
Preceptis's edge is less about a louder pitch and more about the unglamorous infrastructure that decides whether a new procedure actually gets adopted: expanded FDA clearance for children six months and older, a peer-reviewed clinical study, a published health-economics case, and - crucially - a dedicated CMS billing code (G0561) so physicians can be paid for doing the procedure in the office.
That combination positions the Hummingbird at the front of a forming category: office-based, awake pediatric ENT procedures. In a market that is still being defined, the company doing the regulatory and reimbursement groundwork first tends to set the standard.
The Hummingbird was designed and studied in partnership with leading pediatric ENTs, and the company's board still includes co-founder and physician Michael Loushin. In July 2025, Preceptis brought in Dave Carey as CEO to lead its commercial expansion - a 25-year medical-device veteran with leadership roles at Medtronic, Stryker, and Invuity (which IPO'd and was later acquired by Stryker).
25+ years in medical-device sales and marketing; formerly Medtronic, Stryker, and VP at Invuity. Appointed July 2025.
Physician and co-founder; helped shape the clinical foundation of the Hummingbird.
Commercial, R&D/operations, reimbursement, and sales leadership driving the market launch.
Established in Minnesota to reimagine pediatric ear tube placement.
The company introduces its single-pass ear tube delivery system.
A $6M round backed by early-stage medtech investors.
Cleared for in-office placement in children 6-24 months without general anesthesia.
An updated Hummingbird launches alongside positive multicenter clinical results.
A Medicaid insurer pilot expands access to the Hummingbird TTS.
CMS finalizes HCPCS code G0561 for in-office pediatric tympanostomy.
Dave Carey named CEO; a cost study is published and AcuityMD is chosen to power an expanded launch.
The device is named after the hummingbird - a nod to the delicacy of the ear procedure it performs.
Because there's no general anesthesia, a parent can be in the room and hold the child's hand.
Consumers meet it as hummingbirdeartubes.com; the corporate entity is Preceptis Medical, Inc.
It's an FDA-cleared handheld device from Preceptis Medical that places pediatric ear tubes in the ENT's office in about five minutes using only a topical anesthetic - without an operating room or general anesthesia.
No. The procedure is done while the child is awake using a topical anesthetic, and parents can be present in the room.
Originally cleared for children 6-24 months, the Hummingbird has expanded FDA clearance for in-office use in children 6 months and older.
A published health-economics study found moving the procedure out of the OR could save up to $3,743 per patient (about 65%) for commercial plans and up to $519 per patient (about 24%) for Medicaid plans.
Dave Carey, a 25-year medical-device veteran formerly with Medtronic, Stryker, and Invuity, was appointed CEO in July 2025.