[NeuralBot image courtesy of Neural Analytics]
NeuralBot was designed to work with the company’s previously approved Lucid M1 transcranial Doppler ultrasound system, a portable all-in-one ultrasound system designed for measuring and displaying cerebral blood flow velocities in patients with brain disorders, according to the company. Its non-invasive analysis can be performed in a physician’s office.
NeuralBot was designed as a bilateral robot to substitute for the human hand of a skilled ultrasound operator, explained Neural Analytics CEO Leo Petrossian in an interview. The robot holds a probe to each side of the patient’s head and looks for the anatomy of interest.
“The robot will independently image from one side and the other concurrently,” Petrossian added. “It can’t do everything a technician can do, but it can do some important aspects of what a technician can do.”
“Progress in treating neurological disorders has lagged due to a lack of available low-cost and objective patient diagnostic information,” Neural Analytics co-founder and chief scientific officer Robert Hamilton said in a statement. “This has resulted in misdiagnosis, treatment delays and additional healthcare expenditures for patients suffering neurological disease.”
Fewer than 10% of eligible acute ischemic stroke patients receive endovascular surgical intervention, primarily due to lack of early detection and efficient triage, Hamilton noted. NeuralBot could be particularly helpful in triaging patients for treatment when an expert technician is not available, he added.
In April, the company presented the results of a study demonstrating no statistical difference between ultrasound blood flow data collected by NeuralBot and data collected manually using its traditional ultrasound platform. The results of that study indicate that transcranial doppler systems may be useful in other settings and improve triage, diagnosis and intervention for patients with suspected neural disorders, the company said in a statement.
In January, Neural Analytics announced it had raised $15 million in a Series B round of financing led by Alpha Edison to support the continued development of its Lucid system.
Neural Analytics will immediately commercialize the NeuralBot system with Lucid M1 as the Lucid Robotic System, but providers will still be able to purchase Lucid M1 without the robotic accessory, Perossian said. The company is pursuing the CE Mark for NeuralBot.
