Minnetronix Medical today announced that it has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for continued study of its proprietary Neurapheresis cerebrospinal fluid treatment platform.
Akin to hemodialysis, the Neurapheresis platform is designed to rapidly remove blood cells and their cytotoxic byproducts that are released into cerebrospinal fluid following an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
The presence of blood in the spinal fluid increases the risk of complications such as cerebral vasospasm, edema, hydrocephalus, or stroke, according to St. Paul, Minn.-based Minnetronix. Expedited removal of blood and blood byproducts from the cerebrospinal fluid has been shown to shorten hospital stays, reduce use of hospital resources and improve outcomes for patients, according to studies that have appeared in the Journal of Neurosurgery.
The NIH-funded study will take place at the University of Florida Gainesville, M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital. This is the second in a series of clinical studies of Neurapheresis. The first, a small prospective study published in the journal Stroke in 2019, yielded positive results.
“Rapid removal of the toxins that are released into the cerebrospinal fluid when an aneurysm ruptures could be game-changing and improve outcomes for patients who suffer a subarachnoid hemorrhage,” said Dr. Christopher Kellner, director of the intracerebral hemorrhage program at Mount Sinai and site investigator of the clinical trial at Mount Sinai. “Winning support from the NIH is another important step to completing the research necessary to evaluate the impact of this treatment strategy.”
“What fantastic validation from the medical community and the NIH that we are able to identify unmet needs and develop meaningful solutions,” added Minnetronix R&D director Aaron McCabe in a news release. “The Minnetronix team relied on 25 years of experience to develop the platform — from concept to commercialization. Whole product solutions like this represent an expansion of our traditional offerings and create new ways for us to partner with our customers.”
Minnetronix’s main business is designing, developing and manufacturing medical device technology for other companies.
The NIH grant is the second milestone Minnetronix has announced in a month. Recently, it received FDA clearance for the MindsEye port, an expandable deep brain access system used in neurosurgical procedures. MindsEye is the company’s first proprietary product.
