For Immediate Release
Contact: Sue Goin
sue.goin@sapphire-com
317.402.8690
INDIANAPOLIS (June 3, 2019) — Indianapolis-based neurosurgical medical device maker NICO Corporation continued its international expansion in the European Union by holding its inaugural 2-day international course in Granada, Spain during the World Intracranial Hemorrhage Conference (WICH). Neurosurgeons from more than 10 countries attended the two-day course that was led by neurosurgeons from the U.S., Singapore and Spain and hosted by Jesús Lafuente, MD, neurosurgeon at Hospital Universitario del Mar in Barcelona and President of the European Association Neurosurgeon Society (EANS).
Over 900 neurosurgeons have attended similar courses in the U.S., Canada and Singapore on Advances in Subcortical Neurosurgery using Minimally Invasive Parafascicular Surgery (MIPS) supported by the BrainPath Approach, NICO’s systems approach to addressing both primary and secondary tumors and hemorrhagic stroke — the deadliest, costliest and most debilitating form of stroke with an annual worldwide incidence rate of 2.1 million.
“The international interest we are seeing in advancing a minimally disruptive approach to the surgical treatment of ICH is encouraging, not just for the sake of moving the field forward, but also because patients everywhere deserve the best chance possible to walk away from a hemorrhagic stroke and return to a normal life,” said Jim Pearson, President and CEO of NICO Corporation. “We now have more than 80 peer-reviewed independent papers, posters and abstracts that suggest our technologies are doing just that for both stroke patients and those with various types of brain tumors and cysts. This is offering real hope to patients who had few, if any, surgical options before.”
Six abstracts were presented at WICH on May 19 and 21 that offered more evidence and clinical experiences using NICO’s FDA-cleared and CE-marked BrainPath® and Myriad® technologies for access and evacuation of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). This included the first-ever abstract on endoscopic ICH evacuation using Myriad.
“We are witnessing a significant global shift in the use of minimally invasive parafascicular surgery techniques for the successful treatment of intracranial hemorrhage,” said Gustavo Pradilla, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and Chief of Neurosurgery Service at Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center at Grady Health System in Atlanta.
Clinical data presented at WICH adds to mounting evidence suggesting that ultra-early clot evacuation is safe, decreases ICU length of stay and improves economics for the hospital, and that the clinical and economic benefits seen in the U.S. may be repeated globally.
“All of this cumulative evidence is encouraging and promising. It’s what has been missing in hemorrhagic stroke care for decades,” added Pradilla. “Combine this with the evidence we are building through the ENRICH (Early Minimally Invasive Removal of ICH) clinical trial, and I’m hopeful a change in the standard of care is on the horizon.”
ENRICH is a multi-center trial sponsored by NICO and led by the Emory Stroke Center of Emory University hospitals and the Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center of Grady Memorial Hospital. The trial is designed to determine the procedural safety, as well as the economic and functional benefit, of early surgical removal of intracerebral hemorrhage using the BrainPath Approach to achieve the goal of maximum clot evacuation compared to the medical management standard of care. Dr. Pradilla is the principal investigator of ENRICH.
NICO Corporation is a worldwide leader in modern interventional technologies used in a new way of performing less invasive brain surgery for subcortical and skull base lesions, including hemorrhagic stroke. It is an outcomes-based company dedicated to revolutionizing minimally invasive neurosurgery through evidence-based, improved clinical and economic outcomes. NICO technologies are currently being used across the U.S. and in the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore and Australia.
Learn about NICO technologies at NICOneuro.com; follow news updates on LinkedIn and view surgical and patient videos on YouTube at NICOneuroCorp.