In only four years, Synaptive Medical Inc. has introduced a range of products and systems that help neurosurgeons operate more precisely and effectively, introducing technology that could potentially lead to improved outcomes for brain surgery patients. With a talented team of scientists, engineers, business leaders, and customer care specialists, the Toronto-based medical device and technology company strives to ensure the best possible patient outcomes, inspiring the innovations and advancements that the complex discipline of neurosurgery demands. The company’s BrightMatter™ neurosurgery products and solutions suite offers state-of-the-art equipment, advanced surgical visualization, and cohesive informatics, including the first hands-free surgical scope, enabling neurosurgeons to better prepare for and perform brain surgeries. In addition to recruiting a talented, dedicated team of scientists and engineers—with expertise in optics, robotics, and image-guided technology—Synaptive Medical collaboratively works with top neurosurgeons, radiologists, and healthcare facilities to develop and integrate innovative neurosurgical technologies in ways that are cost-effective, clinically relevant, and centered on improving patient care. The company is also expanding their surgical capabilities to other surgical specialties, such as upper and lower spine procedures. When the founders launched Synaptive Medical in 2012, they realized the company would need a 3D product development platform that not only provided extensive, integrated capabilities, but also was established enough to enhance recruitment efforts and support rapid growth, according to Director of Engineering Josh Richmond. “It was important that our 3D design environment included integrated tools, as well as a wide pool of trained users who could quickly help us achieve our growth objectives,” Richmond explains. “Our first designer was familiar with SOLIDWORKS software, and it was easier to find talented people with SOLIDWORKS experience.” Synaptive Medical chose SOLIDWORKS solutions to support its ambitious product development goals because the software is easy to use, provides a wide range of integrated capabilities, and is the preferred design tool of a large number of designers and engineers. The company implemented SOLIDWORKS Professional design, SOLIDWORKS Premium design and analysis, SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional analysis, SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional product data management, and SOLIDWORKS Composer™ technical communication software solutions.
QUICKLY DEVELOPING NEUROSURGICAL PRODUCT LINE
Using SOLIDWORKS solutions, Synaptive Medical quickly developed and introduced its BrightMatter suite of neurosurgical solutions. These include Plan, a trajectorycentric surgical planning system that uses anatomical imagery; Guide, a tractographic neurosurgical approach that leverages the preoperative surgical plan; Vision, a high-resolution surgical imaging system; Drive, a hands-free, automated surgical camera alignment and positioning system; and Simulate, a lifelike replica of the human brain for neurosurgical practice and training. “SOLIDWORKS has helped us to quickly develop several products and expand our engineering and design staff from one to 100 engineers in just four years,” notes Mechanical Engineer Mark Morreale. “For example, we tapped SOLIDWORKS surfacing and design for manufacturability tools to develop our simulated brain, which uses a specialized, proprietary material to emulate the texture, consistency, and other physical properties of the human brain. The mold tooling for this product, which captures all of the fissures and folds of a real brain, is incredibly complex, and we heavily leveraged SOLIDWORKS capabilities to make it a reality.”
