Medgadget » Neurological Surgery

Medgadget Q&A About VISIUS Surgical Theatre With Intra-Operative Imaging

Justin Barad — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:45:12 +0000

Intra-operative imaging has been helping surgeons work on patients with greater confidence and increased precision.

We had a chance to ask Amy Boyle, Executive Vice President, Marketing at IMRIS, about the benefits of intra-operative imaging, and specifically about the company’s VISIUS Surgical Theatre that comes with either CT or MRI scanner that can quickly slide in and out of the OR to image the patient on the table as needed.

Continuous Near-Infrared Regional Cerebral Perfusion Monitoring Shows Promise in Stroke Patients

Jan Sinnige — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:47:02 +0000

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have shown that cerebral optically-based near infra-red spectroscopic oximetry applied to patients who have suffered a stroke can help monitor regional cerebral perfusion in real time, and thus “may serve as a useful, noninvasive, bedside intensive care unit monitoring tool to assess brain oxygenation in a direct manner.” The study looked at the device called Fore-Sight from Casmed of Branford, CT, that measures blood oxygen, similar to a finger clip pulse oximeter. The Mayo study results have been published in Journal of Neurosurgery this month.

Regional cerebral blood flow monitoring devices such as Fore-Sight are already in wide deployment in cardiac surgery, where they are thought to prevent brain ischemia in patients undergoing major surgeries on bypass (valve replacements, aortic arch surgeries, etc.).

Cardinal Health Releases Smart-Seal Surgical Mask

Gene Ostrovsky — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:11:23 +0000

Cardinal Health has made available its Smart-Seal surgical mask that improves both its fit and reduces interior fogging while providing a high level of filtration and resistance to liquids.

From the announcement:

Medtronic’s Aquamantys SBS 5.0 Sheathed Bipolar Sealer Cleared in U.S. for Spinal Surgeries

Gene Ostrovsky — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:52:30 +0000

Medtronic received FDA 510(k) clearance to market its Aquamantys SBS 5.0 Sheathed Bipolar Sealer for sealing soft tissue and epidural veins during spinal surgery.

The device delivers RF energy for cauterization and saline to keep the area clean and clear for easy access around sensitive tissue.

St. Jude Medical’s Deep Brain Stimulator Demonstrates Benefit for Parkinson’s Patients

Gavin Corley — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:56:14 +0000

The use of implanted Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease has been the focus of a lot research activity and technological innovation over the last number of years. Yesterday St. Jude Medical announced positive results from a controlled study of their Libra family of DBS implantable pulse generators, the results of which were published in the journal The Lancet Neurology.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Libra devices in managing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The study was carried out on on 136 Parkinson’s patients in 15 clinical sites throughout the U.S. and the primary endpoint was an increase in the duration in which patients had good control of their symptoms and motor functions.

Ultrasound System for Treatment of Ischemic Stroke Receives CE Mark Approval

Jan Sinnige — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:55:34 +0000

Cerevast Therapeutics, Inc. from Redmond, Washington received CE mark approval for the Clotbust ER, a SonoLysis system used to treat ischaemic stroke in emergency settings. The device has been designed to non-invasively deliver therapeutic ultrasound energy to occluded blood vessels in the brain, together with standard intravenous thrombolytic therapy. The energy of the ultrasound beam is transformed into energy of fluid motion, also known as acoustic streaming. At very low pressures this streaming inside the brain will cause a mild “stirring” action in which additional fibrin binding sites are exposed to plasmin. This new method will enhance the clot lysis potential of conventional rtPA treatment.

Integrated software controls the delivery of consistent therapeutic levels of energy required to attain acoustic streaming, which makes the device operator independent and doesn’t require an experienced ultrasound specialist.

Spinal Modulation Pain Management System Gets EU Green Light

Gene Ostrovsky — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:36:53 +0000

Spinal Modulation, a company out of Menlo Park, California, received the European CE Mark for its neurostimulation system for help in managing chronic intractable pain. The leads of the device deliver signals to the primary sensory neurons located within the dorsal root ganglion (DRG).

Unlike dorsal column spinal cord stimulation, the Spinal Modulation system breaks the pain signal’s path even before it enters the spinal cord.

Infrascanner Looks for Bleeding in Brain Injury Victims

Gene Ostrovsky — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:06:31 +0000

Three years following EU clearance, Infrascan out of Philly, PA finally received FDA approval of its Infrascanner Model 1000 device for detecting intracranial hematomas.

The device uses near infrared light to penetrate the skull and detect intracranial blood collections. By testing different regions on the skull, ER docs can quickly decide whether a follow up CT scan is needed, saving critical time when it really counts.

Boston Scientific Introduces First 16-Contact Percutaneous SCS Lead

Smit Shah — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:04:13 +0000

Boston Scientific has announced FDA approval of its new Infinion 16 Percutaneous Lead for use with the company’s Precision Plus Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) system.

The Precision Plus system is used to treat chronic pain by electrically stimulating the spinal cord, and Boston Scientific claims that by providing greater coverage of the spinal cord, the Infinion 16 lead will be able to better alleviate chronic pain.

New CODMAN CERTAS Programmable Valve Helps Regulate Cerebrospinal Fluid Drainage

Gene Ostrovsky — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:21:47 +0000

Codman, a division of DePuy, which is itself a division of J&J, has released the new CERTAS Programmable Valve for treatment of congenital or acquired hydrocephalus. The valve has eight settings to control the drainage of cerebrospinal fluid buildup within the skull and features a mechanism that makes the device resistant to unintentional setting changes while in an MRI.

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