Ability to access emergent and hard-to-reach brain abnormalities through dime-size opening has given over 550 patients a new surgical option
Indianapolis medical device maker NICO Corporation has witnessed steady adoption of its BrainPath technology with more than 130 neurosurgeons CME trained and nearly 40 institutions fully operational with the new integrated systems approach to neurosurgery. The technology will be featured at this week’s American Association of Neurological Surgeons annual scientific meeting in San Francisco.
More than 550 successful surgeries have been performed since the new 6 Pillar Approach using the NICO BrainPath was introduced, giving a new surgical option to patients in accessing emergent and hard to reach brain abnormalities.
“We have now surpassed the ‘proof of concept’ stage as validated by the outcomes we are seeing using the BrainPath and other new technologies in imaging, navigation and optics,” said Jim Pearson, president and CEO of NICO Corporation. “This is an extremely underdeveloped market segment with many patients not having surgical options when they are told they have a brain abnormality. Our mission as a company is to change this.”
Pearson explained that other technologies have been developed because surgery was not an option due to the inability to access and remove tissue. “We believe these limitations and deficiencies are now solved with this new multi-disciplinary approach that the BrainPath is used in. This is a true revolution in neurosurgery and we are happy to play a role in its advancement.”
The BrainPath provides a unique surgical access system that allows surgeons to see abnormalities located deep in the brain and dramatically changes how they can safely move through the natural folds and delicate fibers of the brain to reach the abnormality. It is uniquely designed to minimize tissue damage by displacing tissues of the brain during advancement to the abnormality – much like the hull of a boat moves through water by displacing it – all through an opening smaller than a dime. The outer sheath remains in the brain after the obturator is removed to serve as a protective portal for surgeons to easily maintain access to the surgical site during tissue removal.
Physicians are also choosing to retrieve and collect tissue with the NICO Myriad tool, an automated resection device about the size of a pencil that also captures tissue in a sterile system. Tissue collection is critical for pathological evaluation and is contributing to leading edge research now being conducted in the area of regenerative medicine.
“This research is advancing quickly and the Myriad and BrainPath are helping make it possible for patients to see real and meaningful change in the near future versus decades down the road,” Pearson said. “We are giving patient’s hope – hope that these new technology advancements will impact them and their loved ones.” Signaling
Among the institutions designated as BrainPath Centers with surgeons trained to use the BrainPath are: Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, Iowa Methodist, Duke University, Aurora Health Systems, University of Arkansas, Stanford, Cancer Treaent Centers of America, Houston Methodist, Long Island Jewish, Evanston NorthShore University, Holy Cross Hospital, St. Vincent Health (Ind.), Indiana University Health, University of Virginia, Illinois Neurological Institute, and Marquette General Hospital.
Each year, it is estimated that 50 percent of the more than 450,000 patients in the U.S. diagnosed with brain abnormalities have limited surgical options available to them. Worldwide, these numbers increase to 2 million.
In this age of advanced technology and once-complicated surgeries moving to minimally invasive approaches, replicating this standard of care in neurosurgery remains one of the final frontiers. The NICO BrainPath is an innovative and groundbreaking access technology changing how neurosurgeons can safely move through the natural folds of the brain.
For more information, visit the NICO Corporation.
