Medulla Pro

Medulla Pro offers the world’s first real-time needle ultrasound-guided device that is accurate, easy to use, and safe. It  drastically eliminates the traumatic incidents for the patients and cut down the procedural time significantly

The simple and practical device explores unique ultrasound deflection methodology for real-time, calibrated, accurate needle entry into the lumbar. It enhances  the experience of the patient undergoing the procedure and improves the confidence of clinicians administering it.

Medulla Pro is developing the system in partnership with the National Healthcare Group (one of the major health care clusters in Singapore) and Trendlines Labs.

IP

PCT examination completed, currently undergoing National phase examination in four jurisdictions (Singapore, United States, Europe, and China).

Lumbar puncture is considered an established procedure and the use of existing ultrasound probe to guide lumbar puncture is not efficient since the probe blocks the direct needle-in-plane entry. As a result, the use of ultrasound to guide lumbar puncture has been reduced. Physicians have relied on palpation method and “blind” lumbar puncture which resulted in high procedural failure of 20-35% [1]. The failure rates are further elevated in difficult cases including obese patients and patients with spinal deformities.

According to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 702.9 million or 9.3% of the world population who are aged 65 and above in 2019 and this is projected to grow by 16.2% to 1.6 billion in 2050 [2]. On the other hand, almost 42.2% of American adults are obese in 2018 according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Countries such as the USA and China have the largest overweight population in the world with ~ 12% of the population classified as obese [3].

Improvement to the standard of care has increased the adoption of ultrasound to guide bedside procedures such as central venous catheterization, making it a new norm. A study done by the National Center for Biotechnology Information-National Institutes of Health (NCBI -NIH) on ultrasound guidance for lumbar puncture, Nilam J. Soni et al reviewed the positive effect of ultrasound guidance for lumbar puncture, and their prospective study achieved high success rate of 97% with ultrasound guidance compared to 71% without ultrasound guidance. The authors concluded that ultrasound guidance lumbar puncture improves on success rates, decreases needle redirections and traumatic taps, and reduces total procedure time [4].

The growing concerns of lower success rate for lumbar puncture in both the aging and obese patients and increasing in both aging and obese population, and burgeoning importance of safety and efficacy in patient care can be the demand drivers for use of ultrasound guided lumbar puncture.

Sources

[1] Yu, S., Chen, M., & Johnson, A. (2009). Factors Associated with Traumatic Fluoroscopy-Guided Lumbar Punctures: A Retrospective Review. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 30(3), 512-515. doi:10.3174/ajnr.a1420

[2] Ageing. (n.d.). Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/ageing/

[3] Adult Obesity Facts. (2020, June 29). Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

[4] Soni, N. J., Franco-Sadud, R., Schnobrich, D., Dancel, R., Tierney, D. M., Salame, G., . . . Mchardy, P. (2016). Ultrasound guidance for lumbar puncture. Neurology: Clinical Practice, 6(4), 358-368. doi:10.1212/cpj.0000000000000265