Medtech Insight's News We're Watching highlights some recent business and R&D developments you may have missed. This week, GE Healthcare and Biofourmis announced a deal to collaborate on virtual care; Cleerly touts a new CPT code for its Ischemia cardiac diagnostic software; Boston Scientific announced how it plans to pay for Axonics; a Wells Fargo survey suggests the market for transcatheter tricuspid valve repair and replacement will grow faster than previously imagined; Virtual Incision earns FDA de novo authorization for its MIRA miniaturized surgical system for colectomy procedures; and MMI and Fabric announce major financing rounds.

Device fundraising during the fourth quarter totaled $2.6 billion, making it the strongest quarter of the year. Q4 M&A activity reached $3.9 billion, higher than Q3's $3.4 billion, but still one of the lowest quarters of the year. Both fourth quarter diagnostics financings and M&As hit an all-year low of $622 million, and $2.8 million, respectively.

Robotically assisted surgical devices are one of the hottest and fastest growing segments in the market for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) products, with a global market opportunity projected to reach more than $10 billion by 2021. A growing number of competitors hope to capture share and further expand the market by targeting key procedures and geographies with next generation robotic surgery systems and robotic-like technologies designed to improve outcomes and enable more complex procedures to be performed via an MIS approach.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Venture Funding Deals column provides a comprehensive monthly review of emerging life science companies that have received venture funding, including companies within the In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals sectors. This month’s column covers deals announced August through September 2015.