TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Synaptive Medical Inc., a medical device and technology company, is pleased to announce that The University of Oklahoma Medical Center is the first hospital in the state of Oklahoma to acquire their BrightMatter™ technology, an innovative solution of advanced imaging, informatics, surgical planning, navigation, and robotic visualization with a digital microscope for brain surgery.
“Inoperable means we don’t know how to take it out,” said Dr. Michael Sughrue, Associate Professor, founding member, and current director of the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Center at OU Medicine. “For years we have been operating on the brain the way it looks, now we can operate on the way it really is.”
Dr. Sughrue in an innovator in skull base and keyhole brain surgery, establishing one of the busiest awake brain surgery programs in the United States. Using advanced brain tumor mapping techniques, he is often able to successfully remove many brain tumors deemed inoperable at other centers.
BrightMatter provides neurosurgeons with the latest advancements in visualization tools to perform minimally-invasive, patient-specific procedures. Using an imaging method called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI, BrightMatter automatically process whole brain tractography for surgical planning of every possible approach. This functionality allows surgeons to see details that can’t be seen with the naked eye and may allow access to brain locations previously deemed inoperable.
The surgical plan is integrated into BrightMatter’s navigation system that allows them to see a patient’s fiber tracts in real time. They also use Synaptive’s fully automated digital microscope, a high-powered magnification system mounted on a robotic arm that automatically follows the surgeon’s tools. This replaces the need to manipulate cumbersome optics with a view the entire operating room can see with unprecedented detail. BrightMatter allows for better surgical ergonomics, facilitates collaboration with operating room staff, and consumes less surgical time, all factors that could lead to better outcomes.
“Providing our patients with the highest quality of care is a priority at OU Medical Center,” said Kris Wallace, chief operating officer, OU Medical Center. “This BrightMatter technology truly expands our capabilities to provide the best care when it comes to neurosurgery and treating brain tumors.”
“OU Medicine is home to one of the world’s busiest awake craniotomy practices and the expertise that comes with performing over 400 brain tumor operations a year,” said Cameron Piron, Synaptive president and co-founder. “Collaborating with surgeons to better understand their challenges in the operating room is deeply rooted in Synaptive’s culture. We look forward to gaining insight from Dr. Sughrue and the OU team as we explore joint innovation opportunities.”
OU MEDICINE
OU Medicine is the collective brand for OU Medical Center, OU Physicians and the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Headquartered at the Oklahoma Health Center campus near downtown Oklahoma City, OU Medicine is the state’s largest academic medical complex. Among other things, it provides health care, conducts medical research and educates the physicians of tomorrow.
OU Medical Center is home to the state’s only level one trauma center and The Children’s Hospital, Oklahoma’s most comprehensive pediatric facility. Members of OU Physicians, the state’s largest physicians group, provide care at the hospital facilities and at OU Physicians clinics in Oklahoma City and across the state. The practice includes almost every adult and child specialty, and some of its physicians have pioneered treatments or procedures that are world-firsts. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and at www.oumedicine.com.
About Synaptive Medical | Synaptive Medical Inc., a Toronto-based medical device and technology company, collaborates with leading clinicians and healthcare systems to revolutionize products and services that cross traditional barriers to enable continuous improvement in care delivery in and beyond the operating room. Synaptive’s integrated BrightMatter™ solutions — including surgical planning, navigation and visualization, and an informatics platform — are designed to give clinicians the right information they need to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients.
