Dr. Meghana Helder is the Founder and CEO of Octin Health, Inc., a Minneapolis-based medical device company developing breakthrough technologies for complex aortic surgery. She simultaneously leads Octin Health while practicing as a cardiovascular surgeon at Metropolitan Heart and Vascular Institute.

Dr. Helder is a Mayo Clinic-trained cardiothoracic surgeon who was awarded the Nygaard, Inlow, and Balfour awards at Mayo for innovation, and spent two years in dedicated translational cardiovascular and biomedical engineering research.

As a first-generation immigrant, physician-entrepreneur, and advocate for women in medtech leadership, Dr. Helder is driven by a mission to demonstrate that surgeon-led innovation can meaningfully transform patient care.

Dr. Helder has authored over 26 publications and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and as a Feature Editor for Seminars of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. She leads Octin from concept through product development, fundraising, regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

Octin Health won the 2026 MN Cup grand prize and was selected for the prestigious MedTech Innovator 2025 US Accelerator cohort. The company's flagship Elika device is projected to reduce the cost of aortic arch surgery by over 50%, or approximately $90,000 per patient.