Synaptive Medical recently announced that Emory University Hospital, part of the most comprehensive health care network in the state of Georgia, has acquired Synaptive’s BrightMatter technology. BrightMatter is an innovative solution of advanced imaging, surgical planning, and navigation with robotic visualization. Synaptive’s technology shares a common imaging hub, which analyzes and assesses the quality of imaging scans in real-time prior to surgical planning and creates the foundation for a clinically-integrated imaging informatics research platform.
Dr. Daniel Barrow, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine, Chief of Neurosurgery Service at Emory University Hospital, and Director of the MBNA Stroke Center, says, “We look forward to providing our patients this innovative technology. The remarkable advances in neurosurgery have been dependent on progress in technology of imaging, microsurgical techniques, and informatics. Our early adoption of Synaptive’s novel products is in keeping with our long-standing commitment to patient safety and excellence in outcomes.”
Emory School of Medicine faculty also provide all of the neurosurgical care for Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital, which recently announced it will also be installing Synaptive Medical’s technology. Dr. Gustavo Pradilla, an Emory Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, is Chief of Neurosurgery for Grady, Co-Director of the Grady Skull Base Center, and Director of the Cerebrovascular Research Laboratory.
“Acquiring Synaptive’s platform will bring innovative neurosurgical treatments that are the next technological frontier in intraoperative navigation, robotic-assisted visualization, corridor-based neurosurgery, and clinical informatics,” says Dr. Pradilla. “This technology will expand our ability to treat previously inoperable lesions in delicate areas of the brain, with potential benefits for patients including safer and more efficient procedures, smaller incisions, shorter hospital stays, and better preservation of critically important brain functions.”
(Image credit: Synaptive Medical, via BusinessWire)
“Emory University is among the leading institutions in the world setting the bar for neurosurgical care,” says Cameron Piron, President of Synaptive Medical. “We’re excited to bring this technology to Emory; our goal is to continue to help physicians evolve the standard of care in neurosurgical innovation, a discipline that has, until recently, seen few advancements in the last 20 years.”
BrightMatter provides physicians with the latest integrated advancements in visualization for planning complex brain surgery. Using an imaging method called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI, BrightMatter enhances MRI images of the entire brain’s pathways, allowing physicians to consider approaches for navigating around critical structures in neurological surgery. Synaptive’s integrated imaging and navigation systems allow physicians to see details that can’t be seen with the naked eye or a standard MRI, and may allow access to brain locations previously deemed inoperable.
The automatic positioning system with an attached camera follows the physician’s tools, showing an image of the patient’s anatomy with unprecedented detail. This robotic arm includes a hands-free optical visualization system that allows for better surgical ergonomics, facilitates collaboration with operating room staff, and consumes less surgical time without the need to manipulate cumbersome optics.
Synaptive, originally founded to address limitations in neurosurgical workflow and procedures, evolved from addressing specific needs for DTI processing to redefining perioperative care. “Working with leaders like Emory allows us to understand the challenges facing the health care system,” says Piron. “Our company can quickly define, develop and address health care inefficiencies, but our passion lies with providing physicians with the right information at the right time, enabling them to revolutionize outcomes.”
