Minimally Invasive Surgery — This Company's Successful Trial Could Help Eliminate The Need For An Incision In Patients With Back Pain

As medical technology progresses, the world’s approach to surgical operations is also advancing and changing significantly. As part of this, minimally invasive surgery (MIS), in recent years, has taken the forefront of the surgical industry, and there are no surprises why.

From reduced healthcare costs to smaller incisions, less scarring, increased accuracy, decreased risk of complications, less pain and shorter recovery, MIS presents a lot of benefits to patients compared to an open technique.

The industry started its rapid growth in the 1980s with the advent of laparoscopic surgery, and since then, it has only continued to expand. Today, MIS technology — like that of NeuroOne Medical Technologies Corp. NMTC — is used in a wide range of procedures, including neurosurgery, gynecological, urological, and cardiovascular surgeries. With chronic disease prevalence on the rise, the market continues to grow – it is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4% over 2022-2030 to reach a total value of $70 billion by 2030.

Advancements in medical imaging of the human body have helped minimally invasive procedures grow. By being able to get a better view of the surgical area, surgeons can perform even more delicate procedures with greater accuracy. It is believed that as new technologies continue to evolve, it’s only a matter of time before even more extensive surgical operations will be conducted in a minimally invasive way.

One significant factor that has also contributed to the growth of MIS is the technological advances in instrument development and robotic surgery, which allows surgeons to perform complex procedures with greater precision and control. Robotic or instrument surgery also eliminates hand tremors and ensures a steadier hand while operating, lowering the risk of complications.

The talk of technological advances in instrument development playing a pivotal role in the upward trend of MIS brings to the fore the work of NeuroOne, one of the companies committed to providing such surgical solutions.

NeuroOne has been committed to providing minimally invasive and hi-definition solutions that may improve patient outcomes and reduce procedural costs for electroencephalograms (EEG) and brain stimulation, and ablation solutions for patients who have epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, essential tremors, chronic pain due to failed back surgeries and other related neurological disorders.

The company says it addresses current treatment challenges where electrodes are used to detect, record and monitor neurological activity and stimulate or ablate tissue to regulate brain activity. NeuroOne aims to improve surgical care options and outcomes for patients suffering from neurological disorders.

Contrary to the use of electrodes, NeuroOne believes its new radiofrequency (RF) ablation system (OneRF® Ablation system) may offer detection, recording, and treatment in a procedure leading to higher patient satisfaction, lower patient risk, lower cost and improved accuracy. This could be good for the company, especially as the ablation devices market size garnered over $8.6 billion in revenues in 2022 and is predicted to exhibit above 9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2023 to 2032.

During NeuroOne CEO Dave Rosa’s appearance on The Claman Countdown on Fox Business in February last year, he highlighted and shed more light on the possibly groundbreaking technology the company has been working on, stressing that unlike Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which is building a brain chip interface that can be implanted within the skull, NeuroOne’s technology already has FDA clearance.

He also explained that NeuroOne’s technology is less invasive, near term and less complicated compared to Neuralink, which is complex and several years away from going commercial.

Watch the video on Fox Business for more here.

Completion Of Initial Animal Implant Of Novel Thin Film Paddle Lead For Spinal Cord Stimulation

The company recently completed the initial animal implant of its novel thin film paddle lead for spinal cord stimulation and is developing a percutaneous (through a needle) paddle lead placement system, which could eliminate the need for an incision in the patient’s back.

According to NeuroOne, the devices provide increased coverage with less power, potentially reducing the need for frequent battery recharging. The device, which boasts a larger electrode, is allowing doctors to treat a broader area with significantly less energy than smaller devices currently in use. This could be a game-changer for medical practitioners seeking to provide efficient and effective treatments. 

The company said the results from the study demonstrated feasibility for the placement of a thin film paddle lead intended to treat chronic back pain due to multiple failed back surgeries revealing further that more testing will be conducted to optimize the design and placement.

NeuroOne says it is also developing a percutaneous (through a needle) paddle lead placement system, which would eliminate the need for an incision in the patient’s back. The preliminary benchtop testing for this percutaneous approach has also been completed.

While emphasizing that the market opportunity for spinal cord stimulation is large and growing, Dave Rosa, CEO of NeuroOne, explained that “We believe our technology can fill a market need for improved patient outcomes due in part to its potential ability to place a paddle device through a needle, provide a larger stimulation surface area of the spinal cord, better conformability with the tissue and improve battery life of devices, reducing the frequency of patient’s need to recharge or replace the battery.” 

Investment Highlights: Time To Look At NeuroOne?

• The company is a medical technology developer of best-in-class electrodes designed to diagnose and treat debilitating neurological conditions with a multi-billion market opportunity for combination devices.
• Marketing and distribution partnership with Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. ZBH for diagnostic applications; Anticipated launch of EVO® Cortical/EVO® sEEG electrodes in late Q1 2023 (more than $100 million market)
• Planned U.S. regulatory submission (510k) of OneRF® Ablation system in Q2 2023; for use with EVO sEEG® electrodes to treat neurologic conditions.
• Strategy to access the ablation market through additional partnerships leveraging the resources of commercial med tech companies; Zimmer has rights of first negotiation.
• NeuroOne’s next-generation electrodes are in development for spinal cord and deep brain stimulation to treat chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, tremors, and chronic pain.
• Cash runway to achieve meaningful inflection points.

With the global minimally invasive surgery market expected to continue growing at a double-digit pace, NeuroOne could be strategically placed for growth in an industry that also has players like Medtronic PLC MDT, Intuitive Surgical Inc. ISRG, and Globus Medical Inc. GMED.

Featured Photo by Terelyuk on Shutterstock

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