Hospital for Special Surgery and Lumoptik, Inc. Announce a Collaborative Relationship Centered on Epidural Anesthesia Innovation

Multi-year collaboration focuses on advancement of novel anesthesia and pain management technologies and products

NEW YORK and SPRING GROVE, Ill., Oct. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the world's leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health, and Lumoptik, Inc. (Lumoptik), a development stage medical device company with a first-in-kind proprietary light-based technology, today announced a new collaborative relationship. Lumoptik and HSS aim to develop cutting-edge technologies and products to assist with epidurals, pain management procedures and other potential orthopedic and neurology uses, in addition to clinically evaluating Lumoptik's BrightPoint™ System for assisting with epidurals. This unique relationship combines the clinical expertise of HSS's world-class Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management with Lumoptik's BrightPoint™ platform technology and product development capabilities to improve how patient care is delivered.

The BrightPoint™ Epidural Needle Guidance System, Lumoptik's first product, is a low cost, easy to use device which can help clinicians better perform epidurals using the standard-of-care Loss of Resistance (LOR) technique. BrightPoint™ utilizes a specialized reflectometer that shows the clinician the color of the tissue at the tip of the needle in real time while inside the patient, thus providing an additional, objective indication that the needle is in the correct position. BrightPoint™ is designed to work as part of the LOR technique, in combination with standard needles and syringes and can help clinicians perform LOR epidurals more safely and reliably than traditional methods.

"HSS looks forward to working with Lumoptik to evaluate and assess the BrightPoint™ Epidural Needle Guidance System and work on new uses for Lumoptik's innovative platform technology," said Michael P. Ast, MD, chief medical innovation officer and a joint replacement surgeon at HSS. "This partnership is a great example of HSS being able to leverage all areas of its expertise, including anesthesia, in improving musculoskeletal care."

The HSS Innovation Institute played a central role in bringing together the appropriate HSS skillsets and expertise to optimize the collaboration with Lumoptik. "Our mission to advance patient care through new technologies and partnerships aligns with the potential of Lumoptik's technology and our anesthesia team to drive this new innovation forward," said Doug Leach, vice president of Device Innovation at HSS.

"Using epidural anesthesia with patients who have musculoskeletal disease can be particularly challenging given the impact that arthritis and injury can have on the spine," said Michael Singleton, MD, an anesthesiologist at HSS. "I am excited to see Lumoptik's use of technology in an area that is ripe for modernization."

"We are very pleased that a world class clinical organization like HSS sees the opportunity for our BrightPoint™ Epidural System to potentially become the standard of care. We also look forward to working with them to develop additional high value medical products based on our platform technology. We believe this will be a fruitful relationship for both HSS and Lumoptik," said Frank Lyman, CEO of Lumoptik.

HSS is the world's leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 13th consecutive year), No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2022-2023), and the best pediatric orthopedic hospital in NY, NJ and CT by U.S. News & World Report "Best Children's Hospitals" list (2022-2023). In a survey of medical professionals in more than 20 countries by Newsweek, HSS is ranked world #1 in orthopedics for a second consecutive year (2022). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest complication and readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. The HSS Innovation Institute works to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 145 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally. www.hss.edu.

Lumoptik, Inc. is a medical device company that has developed the BrightPoint™ Epidural System to assist physicians with needle placement during epidural procedures for childbirth, spine/back pain and surgical procedures such as knee and hip replacements. Over 11 million epidural procedures are performed in the US each year with over 30 million performed worldwide. BrightPoint™ is a platform technology with multiple potential medical uses in orthopedics, pain management, neurology, vascular access and urology. Lumoptik is a private company with a diverse investor base. 

SOURCE Hospital for Special Surgery