Clear Guide Medical Receives $1.5 Million NIH Funding to Make Ultrasound-Guided Procedures Easier

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Apr 14, 2015, 10:00 ET

BALTIMORE, Md., April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Clear Guide Medical has received a two-year SBIR Phase II award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of the research is to make ultrasound imaging for needle insertions an increasingly widespread tool across a wide range of clinical specialties. Often, the ultrasound imaging skill and the hand-eye coordination necessary to perform these needle procedures are not easy to acquire and therefore ultrasound guidance does not get used by all clinicians. This project provides a new feedback method that will assist doctors in maintaining the correct probe and needle alignment relative to the clinical target, making it easier to use ultrasound simultaneously with needle insertion to hit the target inside the body the first time.

This project will substantially increase the availability of doctors using ultrasound imaging to insert needles into the body, thereby increasing efficiencies and reducing adverse outcomes. A clinical collaboration with Dr. Paul Bigeleisen, Professor of Anesthesiology in the University of Maryland Department of Anesthesiology, will test the new device as part of the SBIR award.

The SBIR Award also includes a subcontract with Professor Allison Okamura of Stanford University. Professor Okamura is an international expert whose research focuses on developing the principles and tools needed to realize advanced robotic and human-machine systems capable of haptic (touch) interaction, particularly for biomedical applications.

ABOUT CLEAR GUIDE MEDICAL
Clear Guide Medical, a privately-held company headquartered in Baltimore, MD, develops innovative technologies to provide Computer-Assisted Image Guidance (CAIG) for needle-based interventions. By using Computer-Assisted Image Guidance (CAIG), the Clear Guide ONE enables clinical personnel to see the needle or catheter path on the ultrasound display before entering the patient body. Understanding the correct angle at which to insert needles or catheters into the body is essential to good clinical outcomes. The Clear Guide ONE adapts to most commercial ultrasounds, increasing the utility of that equipment. Clinical studies to quantify the performance improvements of clinicians using the Clear Guide ONE are currently underway.

The Clear Guide ONE and the Clear Guide EDU training system are currently available for sale in the United States, the European Union and Canada by contacting [email protected].

Contact: Susan Kamauff
[email protected]
410-504-6540

www.clearguidemedical.com

SOURCE Clear Guide Medical