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A local startup is trying to shed some light on the catheter insertion process at the patient’s bedside — without a lot of expensive imaging and detection machinery.
During bedside catheter procedures, doctors insert the catheter tip and must estimate exactly where it’s traveling from outside of the patient’s body. This involves guesswork, supplemented with a tape measure or other means that don’t work in real time. There is a constant risk of misplacement and injury during the procedure. To correct this, Brookline-based Lumos Catheter Systems Inc. is developing a new device relying on fiber-optic technology to illuminate the process. “Only about 20 percent of the placements are right on the first try when done blindly,” said Farhad Imam, president and chief medical officer of Lumos. Imam, a doctor and inventor, came up with the idea while working with infants at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.
The Lumos catheter is equipped with an illuminating laser — the low-power sort used in presentations — that remains near the entry point of the device. As the tip of the catheter moves to its destination, the fiber-optic cable transmits the laser light through the skin of the patient. The glow generated allows the doctors, with the naked eye, to see clearly the patient’s tissues near the catheter. This allows them to place it precisely in real time, said Imam. “Doctors like to see exactly what they are doing with their own eyes, so this is very intuitive.”
Other companies trying to solve this problem use infrared, magnetic or ultrasound-based machines that are very expensive and generate images that still can’t be seen with the naked eye, he said. Another method for guiding catheters during insertion requires using an X-ray system, which takes about a half hour to create an image. Additionally, the Lumos system can be deployed at a patient’s bedside, doesn’t require a full operating room, and doesn’t generate radiation as an X-ray does.
The technology is in the late prototype stage, and has proven its viability in animal tests. Children’s Hospital has awarded Lumos awards and grants totalling $10,000, and the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center provided an award of $40,000. Now, Imam is looking to raise $400,000 in seed investment to complete the necessary preliminary studies and to receive 510(k) marketing and sales approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Thereafter, the company will seek a strategic partnership with an established catheter company and pursue a human trial, according to Imam.
The Lumos system can be deployed not only for chest operations, but also for use in the umbilical cord, bladder and in other procedures with a wide variety of devices, said Imam.
“This is a relatively inexpensive solution, and very elegant,” said Gary Tearney, a physician and the associate director at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Moreover, while it can be used in adults, it will probably work best with children, given their small size, he said.
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