MEDICAL DEVICE INNOVATION - Medical Device Daily

MEDICAL DEVICE INNOVATION 2010
BodyViz gives 3-D look to MRI,
speeds up pre-surgery planning
By OMAR FORD
Medical Device Daily Staff Writer
When Tom Lobe MD, went on a tour with his daughter
to Iowa State University (Iowa City) to find an engineering
program suitable for her, the last thing he expected to do
was come upon a novel imaging program that would redefine
the way physicians and surgeons look at an MRI.
Lobe went to the school’s Virtual Reality Applications
Center, which had a 3-D visualization of the universe. The
visuals were so intense and so engrossing, that Lobe put on
his thinking hat and asked if this could be done with the
human body.
“We were at Iowa State University and she was interested
in Engineering, so I asked if we could see their state of
the art Virtual Reality Applications Center,” Lobe said. I was
amazed how advanced 3-D visualization had become and
immediately thought a view of the human body like this
could open up a whole new world for surgeons.”
And from there, Lobe, along with Iowa State University
academicians, formed an alliance that led to the creation of
BodyViz (Ames, Iowa) and its product of the same name.
“BodyViz runs on laptops and work stations,” Curt
Carlson, BodyViz CEO told Medical Device Daily. “The cost
combined with how simple it is to use, download and install
will ultimately change the way surgeons prep for surgery,
educate patients and help oncologists treat tumors with
greater accuracy.”
Once the physician gets the MRI, he or she then runs it
through the BodyViz program, which can give a 3-D model
of the scan.
Doctors can shift, adjust, turn, zoom and replay a three
dimensional rendering of an MRI of a patient. The company
uses an X-Box controller to move to different parts of the
scan. Physicians can then use the information to plan a surgery
or a round of radiation therapy.
BodyViz said its imaging application cuts pre-surgery
planning time from an hour to about four minutes.
Lobe, a surgeon at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des
Moines and BodyViz creator, said he knows how critical it is
to save time in the operating room.
Lobe says, “In the past, I had to plan, draw pictures,
imagine and finally guess at the best approach before I
could begin surgery. This takes time while the patient is
under anesthesia and lying on the operating table. BodyViz
allows a surgeon to take CT or MRI images and do all these
tasks himself, simply and quickly, so no time is lost and
there are no surprises on the day of surgery.”
Two-dimensional imaging technologies have been the
norm in medicine for a long time, but those flat images
leave much to be desired and are only understood by specialists.
“What our surgeons are doing now is working in 2-D,”
Carlson told MDD. He summed up the change saying that
the device goes from “2-D in guessing, to 3-D in knowing.”
The slogan is catching on and the response for the
imaging application has spurred a great deal of interest
from surgeons, academic institutions and even high
schools.
“There are a lot of different uses for BodyViz, Carlson
said. “It’s great for patient education. With this, they get the
chance to take part in preoperative planning. In addition
we’re finding higher education facilities and high schools
purchasing the BodyViz as a teaching tool.”
Such great response has led to the company being primarily
funded through revenue generated from its core
product, which received FDA approval in March.
There are plans, however, for the company to seek a
round of financing
“We’re probably going to go out for a round financing in
the next six months,” Carlson said.
The company was launched with a grant of $109,533
from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, a state economic development
program back in 2007.
In addition, the company won the $25,000 top prize in
the 4th annual John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan
Competition.
And earlier this year, BodyViz was named Outstanding
Startup Company of the Year as part of the Technology
Association of Iowa’s Prometheus Awards.
(This story originally appeared in the Nov. 17, 2009, edition
of Medical Device Daily)
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