Anesthesia
Needle guidance for spinals, lumbar punctures and nerve blocks.
Anesthesiologists perform some of the most demanding work in medicine. They are commonly required to access deep structures to deliver medication, place catheters or obtain samples, where precision is essential. Many of these procedures require years of focused training and experience, the development of fine tactile skills, and a high level of understanding of regional anatomy. In many regions, there is a shortage of trained personnel with the skills and experience required to perform these technically challenging procedures. Even in experienced hands, many of these invasive procedures remain exceptionally challenging, with a substantial rate of suboptimal or failed results.
Our goal is to enhance the anesthesiologist’s abilities by providing feedback from the instruments they use to access deep anatomical structures, reducing uncertainty, improving efficiency and effectiveness, and lowering the number of suboptimal or failed procedures.
Below are two examples of how our emerging tissue intelligence platform can empower anesthesiologists.
Regional nerve blocks
About 1 in 10 peripheral nerve blocks fail.3 Over the past two decades, ultrasound has advanced from low to high resolution, yet the electrical stimulation used alongside it to localize nerves has remained unchanged, with low-resolution, nonspecific responses that give limited information about where the nerve is.
Our smart syringe turns the block needle into a sensor. As the syringe advances, its contact array sends short bursts of current, and every pulse produces its own time-locked response.
When a signal appears, the system finds the stimulation threshold and steps the current up. A response that grows and then plateaus traces the sigmoid recruitment curve that confirms a real nerve.
Steering the electrical field around the needle tip shows which side the nerve is on. The anesthesiologist redirects the needle, the threshold falls to a fraction of a milliamp, and a final sweep up the shaft confirms the position before injection.
The anesthetic then fills the fascial plane and bathes the nerve.
References
- Gottlieb M, Holladay D, Peksa GD. Ultrasound-assisted lumbar punctures: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acad Emerg Med. 2019;26(1):85–96.
- Fettes PDW, Jansson J-R, Wildsmith JAW. Failed spinal anaesthesia: mechanisms, management, and prevention. Br J Anaesth. 2009;102(6):739–48.
- Bottomley T, Gadsden J, West S. The failed peripheral nerve block. BJA Educ. 2023;23(3):92–100.