Andrew Cothrel of Xact Medical (left) and Daniel von Allmen of Cincinnati Children’s (Photo: Xact Medical)
Xact Medical is on a mission to make needles more precise for cardiac catheterizations and other procedures. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Israel’s Ben Gurion University announced its launch on Wednesday. Xact Medical aims to develop the Fast Intelligent Needle Delivery (FIND) system to help clinicians reduce unnecessary sticks.
The idea grew out of Daniel von Allmen’s frustration at the imprecision of getting introducer needles into blood vessels – a necessary precursor to threading a catheter. The surgeon-in-chief at Cincinnati Children’s found that, far too often, the needle did not hit its target on the first try.
“Most people have experienced this on a peripheral vascular access level with a simple blood draw for a lab test,” said Xact’s CEO Andrew Cothrel in a phone interview. “But imagine having to go five or six centimeters deep every time you stick somebody. You can see how that would get unpleasant pretty fast.”
Enter Hugo Guterman, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Ben Gurion University. During a 2012 meeting, the two sketched out a rough idea over lunch (and yes, a napkin was involved). More recently, the team developed a working prototype to prove the concept.
The company believes FIND has the potential to improve needle placement by using ultrasound to better locate the vascular target.
“It’s almost like a video game,” said Cothrel. “You visualize with the ultrasound, put the crosshairs where you want the needle to go, press the green button and it puts the need right where it’s supposed to be.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Now, with funding from Cincinnati Children’s and CincyTech, the company must translate that rough prototype into a modern medical instrument: size, weight, speed, ergonomics.
While the initial applications will mostly involve catheterization, Cothrel believes the device could be used in anesthesiology, biopsies, fine needle aspirations – anywhere a needle must be targeted precisely. He notes the company will begin preclinical trials this year, and hopes to get the device into procedure rooms by 2019.
For FIND’s inventors, Xact’s founding is an encouraging next chapter in their efforts to make these procedures safer and more precise.
“The fact that up to a third of central placement attempts in kids fail on the first try is unacceptable to us,” said von Allmen in a news release. “This technology can drastically reduce patient discomfort and procedure time while improving outcomes for children and adults.”
Featured Photo: Getty Images
