“This is a fully digital technology that is available from a simple brain MRI and, thanks to specific learning, will be able to assist and advise the neurosurgeon in the operating room while placing a pacemaker in the brain, which is one of the neuromodulation techniques, to know exactly where and how to treat the patient suffering from a severe form of Parkinson's or essential tremors,” explains David Caumartin.
This simplified operation, now reduced to 2 hours, is 3 to 4 times shorter than before and used to require “the equivalent of a football team in the operating room,” whereas with RebrAIn, only three people are needed: the neurosurgeon, a nurse, and an assistant.
The idea is to build a mathematical model of more than two reference coordinate points in the brain to evaluate the optimum for neuromodulation. Thus, it is now a reference in 18 dimensions per hemisphere, which will uniquely recognize and mark a brain from a simple, very standard morphological imaging that costs almost nothing to the hospital, the MRI.
The tool will thus predict with sub-millimeter precision exactly where to place the electrodes for neuromodulation surgery.
RebrAIn has already enabled dozens of patients to benefit from this technology after 10 years of clinical research and only 4 years of existence. From about twenty today, the company aims to establish itself in 300 locations worldwide within 5 years.
“We really hope and wish that our innovation allows for the dissemination of innovation beyond expert centers,” enthuses David Caumartin. “We see the benefits of artificial intelligence. We have tackled Parkinson's disease and essential tremors. But we are in the study and discussion phase to see how our technology could be applied in the context of obsessive-compulsive disorders, epilepsy, depression, or addiction. For us, it's a beautiful journey that will look at all brain pathologies for which neuromodulation is a possible technology, and the world really needs it.”
