Minimally-Invasive
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Burr hole access for 3mm prob.
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Surgery requires craniotomy and dissection.
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Immediate, Conclusive Tumor Death
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Heat-induced coagulation necrosis occurs within minutes at AutoLITT treatment temperatures.
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Radiation treatments may require months to confirm tumor death.
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Less Time
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Actual treatment in MRI, following planning and patient preparation, <1 hour.
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Surgery often requires several hours OR time.
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Minimal Anesthesia
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“Biopsy-like” procedure can be performed with patient sedation.
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Surgery requires extended general anesthesia.
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Day-Surgery Procedure
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Most procedures could be performed as day-surgery.
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Surgery is in-patient procedure with extended ICU and recovery time.
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All Tumors
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At sufficient temperature all types and sizes of solid tumors can be destroyed, without limit.
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Radiosurgery and/or radiation may not be indicated if prior treatments reached toxic threshold.
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Precision
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AutoLITT treatment boundary is controlled in real-time by the operating neurosurgeon. Only the targeted tissue reaches thermal damage threshold. Demarcation between treated (dead) tissue and untreated (undamaged) tissue is <1mm.
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Equivalent precision to surgery and stereotactic radiosurgery.
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Minimal Side-Effects
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Side effects from AutoLITT treatment should be minimal – no more than with typical brain biopsy.
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Side effects and post-procedure symptoms are common with surgery and SRS.
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Visualization
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AutoLITT procedure performed in an MRI. All brain tumors can be entirely and precisely visualized with MRI imaging.
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Certain tumors (e.g. glioblastoma multiforme) are difficult to discriminate from healthy surrounding tissue in surgery.
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Accessibility
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AutoLITT probes are sized to enable any cranial tumor to be reached from any cranial point of entry.
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Deep-seated tumors may be difficult to reach with surgery or SRS.
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Increased MRI Utilization
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Any standard 1.5T MRI imager should be compatible with the AutoLITT System. Additional billable procedures to apply to asset overhead.
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Recurrent Procedures
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Because the procedure is minimally invasive with minimal side-effects, it is expected that patients can tolerate many repeat procedures.
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Surgery with craniotomy and stereotactic radiosurgery with toxic threshold have limitations on the number of times they can be used on a patient.
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Cost
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Total cost per procedure is not yet determined. Because the procedure may not require hospitalization, can be performed in less time than most brain tumor resections and uses existing MRI facilities, cost per procedure is expected to be less than surgery.
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Brain Cancer
