Blackrock NeuroMed, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Partner on Groundbreaking Epilepsy Treatment

MILWAUKEE and SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Blackrock NeuroMed LLC and the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin announced a clinical affiliation that will advance the treatment of childhood epilepsy and provide insight into other neurodegenerative diseases.

At the heart of the clinical affiliation is Blackrock NeuroMed's Cervello System, which allows doctors to examine patients' electrical brain activity at previously impossible levels of accuracy.

"Cervello dramatically improves our ability to treat epilepsy patients," said Dr. Kurt Hecox, a pediatric neurologist at Children's. "The system gives us a much clearer look at the electrical signals in patients' brains. As a result, we can identify the precise region in the brain where a patient's seizures are originating -- and have it removed quickly and accurately."

The Cervello System incorporates three primary technologies: an electroencephalogram, a high-definition video camera, and a sophisticated data-recording device that can monitor the brain's electrical activity.

Children's 25 Cervello units are housed in their pediatric epilepsy center, the highest-ranked such center in Wisconsin. Cervello is empowering researchers at Children's to examine brain activity at the level of an individual neuron. That represents a significant improvement over the imprecise hundred- and thousand-neuron views offered by other EEG technology.

For the more than 300,000 American children with epilepsy, the treatment Cervello enables could be revolutionary.

"Cervello is the new gold standard for EEG technology," said Andy Gotshalk, CEO of Blackrock NeuroMed. "The system fuels cutting-edge epilepsy treatments that would have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago.

"We hope that Cervello will empower researchers to better understand neurodegenerative disorders like depression, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's -- and eventually, to treat or even cure them."

About Blackrock NeuroMed LLC
Founded in 2011 and based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Blackrock NeuroMed is a privately owned affiliate of Blackrock Microsystems. Blackrock NeuroMed leverages the core data acquisition and research technologies of Blackrock Microsystems to deliver next-generation, sophisticated high-end EEG and single-cell recording systems to customers worldwide. www.BlackrockNeuromed.com

About Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is the region's only independent health care system dedicated solely to the health and well-being of children. The hospital, with locations in Milwaukee and Neenah, Wis., is recognized as one of the leading pediatric health care centers in the United States. It is ranked in 9 specialty areas in U.S. News & World Report's 2015-16 Best Children's Hospitals report. Children's provides primary care, specialty care, urgent care, emergency care, community health services, foster and adoption services, child and family counseling, child advocacy services and family resource centers. In 2013, Children's invested more than $105 million in the community to improve the health status of children through medical care, advocacy, education and pediatric medical research. Children's achieves its mission in part through donations from individuals, corporations and foundations and is proud to be a member of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. For more information, visit the website at chw.org.

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SOURCE Blackrock NeuroMed LLC