NICO Corporation, Neurosurgical medical device maker issued patent for additional protection around its unique brain access technology, BrainPath® the world's first and only technology that accesses the brain through the sulcus, or natural opening in the brain.

"This new issuance further protects the distinctive capabilities of the BrainPath technology and is validation by the patent office that these innovations are relevant and worthy of protecting," said Joe Mark, Chief Technology Officer of NICO and primary inventor of its patented technologies. "Our goal has been to develop technologies that can be used as part of a systems approach to achieve the long desired goal of non-destructive trans-sulcal access to the subcortical space. We have accomplished this goal and our bibliography of more than 60 independently published papers and abstracts suggests that these innovations contribute to improved patient outcomes." 

BrainPath is designed to be a deficit-sparing device that is introduced parallel to the brain's delicate anatomy and is guided by navigation, allowing the physician guided non-disruptive access to the brain.

"Non-disruptive access in any surgical specialty opens the door to innovation, improved outcomes and propels the field forward," said Jim Pearson, NICO President and CEO. "What NICO's technologies accomplish for neurosurgery is much like when arthroscopic knee surgery came to orthopedics  it revolutionized what was possible."

NICO's strong IP portfolio is centered around a systematic approach to minimally disruptive access, automated tissue removal and hemorrhage evacuation, and intraoperative tissue harvesting and biological preservation. The basis for the portfolio is to protect and build upon technologies designed to deliver improved clinical and economic outcomes for healthcare providers.

NICO's U.S. and international patent portfolio now totals more than 200 patents. The company has made a significant investment in IP applications because of the high value placed on protecting the unique surgical approach and added surgical options they bring to the market.