Celebrating Perimeter: An Award-Winning Approach to Clearer Margins
For Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, innovation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a mission with life-saving implications.
At the 2025 TAG Awards, Perimeter was named Top Innovator Overall, recognized for the groundbreaking work it’s doing at the intersection of advanced imaging and artificial intelligence. But behind the accolade is a powerful story: one of relentless engineering, clinical collaboration, and the drive to fundamentally improve outcomes for cancer patients.
In a recent episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Awards episode, Perimeter CEO Adrian Mendes joined host Justin Starbird to share the journey behind the company’s technology and what the recognition means to the team.
Changing the Standard in the OR
At the heart of Perimeter’s solution is Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)—a high-resolution imaging technology that provides surgeons with real-time views of tissue structures during surgery. It’s already transforming procedures in the breast cancer space by helping surgeons determine whether they’ve successfully removed all cancerous tissue before the patient even leaves the operating room.
“This technology allows surgeons to see extremely small structures in the tissue,” Mendes explained. “It gives them greater confidence in their clinical decisions, and that’s critical in something as serious as cancer surgery.”
The impact has been immediate. As more surgeons adopt the system and see its benefits, word is spreading organically across the clinical community. “Every new surgeon we bring on board sees the value, starts using it with more of their patients, and tells their colleagues,” Mendes said. “It’s a flywheel effect.”
A Future Fueled by AI
While today’s Perimeter technology already brings significant value to the OR, the next chapter is even more promising: a new AI-powered system currently undergoing FDA review.
“Adding AI makes the technology even more accessible,” Mendes shared. “It lowers the learning curve, reduces time in the OR, and makes it easier for any surgeon to integrate into their workflow.”
Perhaps most importantly, it has the potential to democratize access to high-quality cancer care. Surgeons in rural hospitals—who may not specialize in high-volume cancer surgeries—will soon be able to deliver care that’s much closer in performance to their counterparts at leading academic centers.
“That’s incredibly exciting,” said Mendes. “It means better care for patients, no matter where they live.”
Recognition That Matters
Winning a TAG Award served as a powerful moment of validation for the entire Perimeter team. For a startup navigating clinical trials, commercialization, and growth, the recognition reinforced that they’re on the right path.
“External validation like this gives everyone a boost,” Mendes said. “It’s sometimes hard to explain to your friends and family what you’re working on or why it matters. This kind of recognition makes it real.”
It also supports customer conversations. Clinicians and hospitals evaluating new technologies want to know they’re adopting best-in-class tools. “This award lets our customer-facing teams say, ‘Don’t just take our word for it—industry experts have recognized that this is something special,’” Mendes noted.
What’s Next for Perimeter
While the current system is focused on breast cancer, the base technology is applicable across multiple cancer types. The company is already working with surgeons to explore use cases in other indications—an expansion that could bring life-saving insights to many more patients.
“We’re just at the beginning,” Mendes said. “We’re starting to see a lot of momentum, and the pipeline of new users is growing rapidly. From a business standpoint, it’s exciting. From a mission standpoint, it’s deeply meaningful.”
Leading with Passion and Purpose
Perhaps what’s most inspiring about Perimeter is the sense of purpose that drives its team. As Mendes put it, “You get to scratch your innovation itch, but you also know that what you’re building might help save someone’s life. That’s what gets us out of bed every morning.”
The TAG Awards were created to celebrate this exact kind of impact—the intersection of technology and humanity, where innovation is not just impressive, but necessary.
And with companies like Perimeter leading the way, the future of healthcare looks more precise, more personal, and more promising than ever.
Listen to the full conversation with Adrian Mendes, "Celebrating Perimeter: An Award-Winning Approach to Clearer Margins," on the TAG’D: Beyond the Awards Podcast, available now!