Smart Needle Helps Doctors Detect CSF Safely

An intelligent biopsy needle equipped with electrodes alerts physicians when the tip contacts cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), or if the needle comes close to sensitive nerves.

The Injeq (Tampere, Finland) IQ-Needle is a surgical bioimpedance probe (BIP) with a removable stylet that enables measurement of the bioimpedance spectra. The needle is connected to a measurement analyzer that uses tissue-classification software to provide audiovisual feedback when it detects CSF. The result is a system that provides physicians with real-time directions, giving immediate warning if they are guiding the needle to the wrong place by measuring the electrical properties of the tissue approximately 200 times per second.

Injeq has been tested in adult lumbar procedures and liver biopsies at Tampere University Hospital (Finland), and is expected to make the diagnostic technique easier, reduce tissue damage in sensitive areas, and improve sample quality. During the adult lumbar puncture clinical trial, the system detected CSF correctly in 100% of 45 cases, with device performance and needle tip location verified by an experienced anesthesiologist. The study describing Injeq BIP needle performance was published on August 4, 2016, in the Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing.

“The most urgent clinical need is in neonatal punctures. The study is in its early stage, but everything looks good so far. Typically doctors pair a lumbar procedure or a liver biopsy with CT or ultrasound to guide the needle,” said Kai Kronström, CEO of Injeq, which is developing the IQ-Needle in collaboration with GE Healthcare (GE, Little Chalfont, United Kingdom). “But neither scan is perfectly accurate, so it’s not unusual for doctors to have to repeat the painful procedure to get a proper sample. In the case of CT, they also involve radiation.”

CSF is a clear colorless bodily fluid found in the brain and spine. It is produced in the choroid plexus and acts as a cushion or buffer for the cortex, providing a basic mechanical and immunological protection to the brain inside the skull, and it serves a vital function in cerebral autoregulation of cerebral blood flow. The CSF occupies the subarachnoid space the ventricular system around and inside the brain and spinal cord.

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Injeq
Tampere University Hospital
GE Healthcare