FDA greenlights ortho robot, automated MRI brain modeling

MicroPort Navibot of Foxboro, Mass., is cleared to sell a robotic surgery system that uses CT scan data for planning total knee replacements and precisely placing implants during the operation, the company announced Aug. 8.

Also as of this week, ClearPoint Neuro of Solana Beach, Calif., may market software that automatically identifies, labels and quantifies the volume and shape of brain structures on MRI scans.

MicroPort Navibot’s newly approved system, called SkyWalker, is “capable of providing the surgeon with information that can help to achieve the desired joint line reconstruction while providing data to optimally balance soft tissues,” according to the announcement.  

The company says it plans to develop other orthopedic applications soon.

ClearPoint Neuro’s new offering, Maestro Brain Model, combines malleable surfaces with shapeable models and machine learning algorithms to aid evaluation of patients with mild traumatic brain injury.

The company is building iterations of the current versions with plans to “quantify drug delivery using intraoperative imaging and simulate patient-specific infusions in targeted brain regions,” says ClearPoint Neuro VP Lyubomir Zagorchev, PhD, who previously worked on the platform as an employee of Philips, according to a news release.

Dave Pearson

Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.

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