Brain Tumor Removal

Indianapolis-based medical device maker NICO Corporation has extended its NICO Myriad product line to include an array of new handpieces that make the automated brain tumor removal tool compatible with nearly all working channel neuroendoscopes, allowing minimally invasive tumor removal to occur through very small openings and converting scopes once used solely for diagnostic purposes to an effective interventional device. The Myriad is now the first-ever automated, non-heat generating tumor resection device to fit through the working channel of neuroendoscopes, giving patients the opportunity for a less invasive procedure and improved clinical outcomes.

The new handpieces can be used in combination with the Storz OI HandyPro and Aesculap PaediScopeneuroendoscopes, making automated resection possible in areas where only very small manual tools were typically used to perform time-consuming and tedious tissue removal in small amounts, one piece at a time with multiple instruments moving in and out of the surgical field dozens times over several hours. The combination of the Myriad and neuroendoscopes is the first in the industry for scopes with small profiles and allows tissue resection to occur through a 1.3mm working channel without impeding the view of the surgical field and improving safety while maneuvering through narrow ventricular spaces.

“The Myriad system used through the working channel of an endoscope has revolutionized pediatric neurosurgery,” says Dr. Tadanori Tomita, chief of neurosurgery at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, ranked #9 among the top 10 best pediatric hospitals according to 2011 U.S. News and World Report. “It is minimally invasive, meaning we can operate through a small hole versus an open craniotomy, and works very efficiently at quickly removing tumors and cysts that can be debilitating to patients.

“Patients greatly benefit from a minimally invasive approach with shorter hospital stays and faster recovery times,” Tomita adds, “which can be a substantial cost savings to both the patient and the hospital.”

Neuroendoscopes have been used for more than a decade as a way to better see brain tumors and provide for minimally invasive ways to biopsy or remove tissue. Myriad handpieces are compatible with 90% of all working channel neuroendoscopes, including those most commonly used in brain surgery: Storz OI, LOTTA, DECQ, and GAAB, and the Aesculap PaediScope and MINOP.

More than 1,200 procedures have been performed in the United States using the Myriad, and six6 of the top 10 pediatric “best hospitals” as ranked by U.S. News and World Report use the system in their neurosurgery departments. The Myriad has been used to remove brain tumors in children as young as eight months and can be used in removing many of the most common malignant and non-cancerous pediatric brain and central nervous system tumors. It has been used to successfully remove tumors located in areas of the brain and skull base that are otherwise difficult to reach and is ideal for endoscopic approaches where neurosurgeons use specially designed cameras and instruments to operate safely in areas deep within the brain, often with a very small incision or through the nose with no incision at all. 

“The Myriad was designed with the goal of providing notable clinical improvements for the patient, the neurosurgeon and the hospital, and to progress minimally invasive corridor neurosurgery in a way that dramatically changes the landscape of how neurosurgery is performed,” says Jim Pearson, president and CEO of NICO Corporation. “Because the Myriad is automated and uses no heat, surgeons can work very safely on or along critical structures and they can do surgery more efficiently because the system combines in one device the same results as multiple manual tools. This means, in the majority of cases, less time in the OR, faster recovery time for the patient with less risk for complications, shorter hospital stays, and less cost to the hospital on many fronts.”

More than two million people worldwide are diagnosed with a brain tumor every year. They are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer deaths in children under the age of 20, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in male adults ages 20-29, and the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in females ages 20-29. In children, brain and spinal cord tumors are the second most common cancers, accounting for about 21% of childhood cancers. Nearly 4,000 central nervous system tumors are diagnosed each year in children and teens, and although one-fourth are considered non-cancerous, they can dramatically impact quality of life and require surgical removal.

“Anytime you are operating in the brain, whether it’s for the removal of cancerous or non-cancerous tumors, you have a risk to the patient because it is operating on an organ that can significantly impact quality of life,” Pearson says. “There are hundreds of critical structures like blood vessels and nerves that require delicate care and precise surgical technique. The Myriad gives surgeons the ability to perform these surgeries successfully.” 

Dr. Mark Dias, chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Vice Chair of Clinical Neurosurgery at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA, says the Myriad represents the most significant advance in neurosurgery in the past decade. “Its use in endoscopic neurosurgery will substantively move the field forward, allowing the neurosurgeon much greater flexibility than ever before.”

To learn more about NICO Corporation and the NICO Myriad product line, visit www.niconeuro.com. To watch a video of the NICO Myriad working with a neuroendoscope, visit the NICO YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/NICONeuroCorp.