Visiomed in spinal surgery collaboration

Diagnostics group Visiomed (ASX:VSG) has entered a German research collaboration to develop surgical navigation systems for spinal procedures.

The Perth company will partner with Siemens Medical Solutions and Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany to combine ultrasound techniques with computer-aided visualisation.

Visiomed CEO Dr Saliba Sassine said his company would hold the rights to a third of the patent that will be applied to the research and development program.

He said the company was entitled to the results of the work because of the terms of Visiomed's acquisition from ZN Group in Germany, which gave it rights to all applications of organic vision in the medical field.

Sassine said the aim of the project was to use ultrasonographic navigation and Visiomed's computer-aided visualisation technology in real time for the placement of screws in internal spine fixation and for the removal of spinal or para-spinal tissue growth.

"In simple terms, the aim is to allow the surgeon in real time to see on a monitor a three-dimensional image of the spine and to have an accurate navigational system to guide them during surgery," he said.

He said current surgical navigation methods rely primarily on preoperative radiological examinations such as computerised tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.

But during the actual surgery, this preoperative data can lose its relevancy wit surgeons requiring an updated image.

While CTs and MRIs can be used during surgery they can be cumbersome and not always available when needed. They can also increase the incidence of potentially dangerous ionising radiation during surgery.

Sassine said this collaborative project hoped to develop a solution to this problem. "We believe that this emerging technological approach to surgical navigation will become increasingly significant over time," he said.

"We are absolutely delighted because it further highlights the quality of our acquisition (of Visiomed) and the potential versatility of our technology platform."

He said the work would supplement the company's existing programs in the area of diagnostics and imaging for the early detection of melanoma.

Visiomed shares were unchanged at 10 cents at the time of writing.