Rivanna Medical tells us it has begun selling its Accuro device to anesthesia providers and is continuing discussions with three potential corporate partners.
Background
Needle insertion for spinal and epidural anesthesia is a demanding procedure, especially for inexperienced physicians in general, and in particular in patients with high-BMI. Before inserting the needle, ‘blind’ palpation of spinal bone anatomy is usually used to substantiate at what angle and location to insert the epidural needle. In other words, the physician makes an informed estimate at where, and how deep, to place the epidural needle.
Rivanna Medical has received FDA 510(k) clearance to market Accuro, a handheld and untethered smart phone-sized device that is designed to guide neuraxial anesthesia and perform diagnostic imaging of the musculoskeletal and abdominal anatomies. As advertised back in August, the company launched its Accuro device at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) in San Diego last week. And while not naming names, the company has confirmed it is in discussions with three potential corporate partners.
Accuro’s initial commercial application is designed to provide 3D navigation of the lumbar spine to automatically guide clinicians to a first-attempt success in administering spinal and epidural anesthesia.
Company comments
“Anesthesia providers attending the recent ASA scientific meeting told us that Accuro fulfills a significant unmet clinical need for automated image guidance,” said John A. Williams, President and CEO, “especially in the spinal anesthesia sector.”
“Knowing the variable configuration of an individual’s lumbar anatomy for a specific patient is essential to predicting the appropriate puncture site, needle trajectory, and depth of needle insertion to reach the epidural space, but without medical imaging, the physician is left to guesswork.”
Source: Rivanna Medical, Inc.
published: November 4, 2015 in: Anaesthesia, Launches / Withdrawals