Castle Rock Adventist Hospital First in Colorado to Acquire Advanced Neurosurgery System

Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter™ technology: Advanced imaging, informatics, surgical planning, navigation, and robotic visualization with a digital microscope

Toronto, ON (October 2, 2017) — Synaptive Medical Inc., a medical device and technology company, is pleased to announce that Castle Rock Adventist is the first hospital in Colorado to acquire Synaptive’s BrightMatter™ technology, an innovative solution of advanced imaging, informatics, surgical planning, navigation, and robotic visualization with a digital microscope for spine and brain surgery.

BrightMatter will be used under neurosurgeon Dr. William Choi at Castle Rock Adventist Hospital. Dr. Choi is director of Precision Spine Center and a leading spine surgeon in the Denver area who has championed the use of surgical technology to improve patient outcomes. The system will allow Dr. Choi and the surgeons at Castle Rock Adventist Hospital to operate with a state-of-the-art, fully integrated solution for their expanding practice while avoiding the ergonomic challenges that come with traditional microscopes.

Dr. William Choi, director of the Precision Spine Center at Castle Rock Adventist Hospital and a leading spine surgeon in the Denver area, champions the use of innovative surgical technology like Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter™ platform to improve patient outcomes.

“Seeking emerging technology to enhance spine surgery is a long-standing passion of mine,” said Dr. Choi. “Synaptive Medical shares this interest: their BrightMatter technology offers surgeons tools with which to improve procedural accuracy and patient safety while tackling complex cases to achieve excellent outcomes. Combining robotics with next-generation optics enhances the surgeon’s ability to operate while leaving control in his or her hands, and will allow us to train the next generation of surgeons while viewing spine procedures in a new dimension.

“I am impressed that Castle Rock Adventist Hospital’s administration team shares my vision and interest in bringing this technology to anchor our commitment to quality in spine surgery and research.”

Castle Rock is a 55-bed acute care hospital in the Centura Health network.

BrightMatter provides neurosurgeons with the latest advancements in visualization tools to perform minimally-invasive, patient-specific approaches for both spinal and cranial procedures. For cranial procedures, using an imaging method called diffusion tensor imaging, BrightMatter automatically processes whole brain tractography for surgical planning of every possible approach. This functionality allows surgeons to see details that can’t be seen with the naked eye and may allow access to locations previously deemed inoperable. The surgical plan is integrated into BrightMatter’s navigation system, which allows surgeons to see a patient’s brain tracts in real time.

For both cranial and spine procedures, surgeons also use Synaptive’s fully automated digital microscope, a high-powered magnification system mounted on a robotic arm that automatically follows the surgeon’s tools. This replaces the need to manipulate cumbersome optics with a view the entire operating room can see with unprecedented detail, particularly for spine surgeons performing minimally-invasive procedures. BrightMatter allows for better surgical ergonomics, facilitates collaboration with operating room staff, and consumes less surgical time, all factors that may lead to better outcomes.

“Dr. Choi is a top spine surgeon in the Denver area, and has a long history of working with the medical-technology industry to provide the best care for his patients,” said Cameron Piron, Synaptive’s president and co-founder. “We’re happy to have Castle Rock Adventist Hospital bring the full BrightMatter system to Colorado, and for Dr. Choi’s ongoing cooperation with our R&D team so we can learn from his expertise and further advance our spinal care technology.”

About Synaptive Medical | Synaptive Medical Inc., a Toronto-based medical device and technology company, collaborates with leading clinicians and healthcare systems to revolutionize products and services that cross traditional barriers to enable continuous improvement in care delivery in and beyond the operating room. Synaptive’s integrated BrightMatter^TM solutions — including surgical planning, navigation and visualization, and an informatics platform — are designed to give clinicians the right information they need to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients.