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Soft tissue navigation systems to expand the $200 million surgical navigation market, according to Millennium Research Group

WALTHAM, Mass., April 14, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Millennium Research Group's US Markets for Surgical Navigation Systems 2008 report, the surgical navigation market was worth almost $200 million in 2007, and will grow rapidly over the next five years. This growth will be partly facilitated by soft tissue navigation, an emerging technology that allows surgeons to track their instruments inside organs such as the heart or liver using image guidance in the operating field.

Soft tissue navigation systems are anticipated to revolutionize risky procedures such as vascular bypass surgery, valve replacement, arrhythmia treatment, tumor removal, and living donor organ transplants. These systems will boost the number of patients who can be treated with liver transplants in particular, increasing the survival rate of patients with diseases like hepatitis or cirrhosis. In comparison with standard organ transplant surgery, where patients can wait months or years for a matching donor, soft tissue navigation enables safer removal and transplantation of living donor organs, ensuring that the donor retains sufficient healthy tissue to regenerate their liver.

"Just as surgical navigation systems transformed risky neurosurgery procedures in the last decade, soft tissue navigation systems will be instrumental for improving clinical outcomes in difficult cardiovascular and abdominal surgery," says Sarah Leonard, Analyst at Millennium Research Group. "Pathfinder Therapeutics' SurgiSight Linasys recently gained clearance for all open liver procedures, and Novadaq Technologies' SPY was just approved for use in organ transplant surgery. Other companies focusing on cardiovascular disease are expecting to gain approval for surgical intervention over the next few months."

Initial adopters of soft tissue navigation will be large surgical centers, such as academic hospitals and high-volume heart and cancer centers. If these institutions successfully enhance patient safety and enable high-risk patients to receive potentially life-saving procedures by using soft tissue navigation systems, other surgical facilities will follow suit and adopt the technology.

The Surgical Navigation Systems 2008 report covers the neurosurgery, spine, ear, nose, and throat (ENT), and orthopedics navigation system markets. Industry competitors include Aesculap, BrainLAB, Hansen Medical, Medtronic Navigation, Novadaq Technologies, ORTHOsoft, Pathfinder Therapeutics, Stereotaxis, and Stryker Navigation.

About Soft Tissue Navigation Systems

Navigated abdominal surgery systems, used in soft tissue navigation, scan the surface of the liver using a laser range scanner to gather over 20,000 positioning points. These points are matched to a preoperative computed tomography scan and used to create a 3-D operative model of the organ, which allows surgeons to track the procedure around and through the tissue. Another soft tissue navigation technology for organ transplants and vascular bypasses uses fluorescent dyes and near-infrared spectroscopy to track blood flow within an organ or tissue.

About Millennium Research Group

Millennium Research Group (www.MRG.net), a Decision Resources, Inc. company (www.DecisionResources.com), is the global authority on medical technology market intelligence and a leading provider of strategic information to the health care sector. Focused solely on the medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries, the company provides its clients with the benefits of its specialized industry expertise through published reports and customized consulting services.

All company, brand, or product names contained in this document may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information, contact:

Amy Krohn
Millennium Research Group
416-364-7776 x101
akrohn@mrg.net

Source: Millennium Research Group

CONTACT: Amy Krohn of Millennium Research Group,
+1-416-364-7776, ext. 101, akrohn@mrg.net

Web site:

http://www.mrg.net/

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