Hydrocephalus
Conditions
Keywords
EVD shunt, Hydrocephalus
Brief summary
Rhaeos, Inc. is initially targeting hydrocephalus, a life threatening condition caused by an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Implantable shunts, the gold standard treatment, often fail, leading to multiple trips to the emergency room and repeat surgeries. There is no technology available today that can easily assess CSF flow in shunts wirelessly, bedside, and without capital equipment until now. FlowSense, is a wireless, noninvasive thermal flow sensor that can be mounted on a patient's neck overlying the shunt to detect the presence and magnitude of CSF. Similar in size to a bandage, it is composed of soft, silicone with no hard edges. Data is wirelessly transmitted to a custom designed mobile app. With FlowSense, monitoring of shunt function can occur in clinics, in-patient settings, and emergency departments, thereby reducing unnecessary imaging, hospital length of stay, and readmission costs.
Detailed description
Hydrocephalus is caused by excess cerebrospinal fluid in the brain that can lead to lethargy, seizures, and comas. There is no cure for it nor is there any way to prevent it from happening. Affecting 1M Americans today, treatment costs the healthcare system \>$2B per year. Neurosurgically implanted shunts, the standard treatment, often fail. Patients with failed shunts show nonspecific symptoms, including headaches, dizziness and nausea. CTs and MRIs are used for diagnosis, but are inconclusive, expensive, and often lead to unnecessary admissions. Rhaeos, Inc. is a VC backed, clinical stage medical device company developing FlowSense, a patent protected platform technology and a noninvasive wireless, wearable skin patch that can assess and monitor fluid flow subdermally throughout the body. The company is initially targeting hydrocephalus, a life threatening condition caused by an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Implantable shunts, the gold standard treatment, often fail, leading to multiple trips to the emergency room and repeat surgeries. There is no technology available today that can easily assess CSF flow in shunts wirelessly, bedside, and without capital equipment until now. FlowSense, is a wireless, noninvasive thermal flow sensor that can be mounted on a patient¿s neck overlying the shunt to detect the presence and magnitude of CSF. Similar in size to a bandage, it is composed of soft, silicone with no hard edges. Data is wirelessly transmitted to a custom designed mobile app. With FlowSense, monitoring of shunt function can occur in clinics, in-patient settings, and emergency departments, thereby reducing unnecessary imaging, hospital length of stay, and readmission costs.
Interventions
DEVICEFlowSense
Patients will have one or more existing external ventricular drains (EVDs). Phase B patients will additionally have an accessible (shaved) region of skin \>3 cm x 3 cm overlaying the EVD tubing. Clinical data to be collected include: 1) total drainage volume1 over the 20-minute measurement period; 2) handheld ultrasound measurement of skin thickness2 over the EVD; and 3) an ICP waveform from a standard-of-care transducer, 4) dimensions (inner diameter and outer diameter) of tunneled catheter. Single patients may be measured multiple times during their admission; each measurement will be considered independent for analysis.
Sponsors
Baylor College of Medicine
Rhaeos, Inc.
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Phase A: EVD drainage will be monitored by a digital video recorder capturing images of CSF dripping through the EVD drainage system graduated drip chamber. Phase B: The EVD flow rate will be measured with FlowSense over a 20-minute period (FlowSense Flow Rate) (physician and patient blinded to device data), with patients receiving standard-of-care imaging and clinical observation. Simultaneously, a digital video recorder will be used to record video of CSF dripping through the EVD drainage system graduated drip chamber.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
1 Years to 21 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Patients with one or more existing external ventricular drains (EVDs).
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with no external ventricular drains (EVDs).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Exploratory outcome | 1 year | Number of participants with accurate cerebrospinal flow rate measurements (measured through the FlowSense device), EVD drainage, intracranial pressure measurements. This will be measured using a video camera. We will see the changes in flow for every 20 minutes in the recording. However, this project is not intended to be statistically powered |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Suitability | 1 year | Number of times the video recording works properly by visually playing back the videos. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTSamuel McClugage, MD
CONTACTSarah Martinez
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORSamuel McClugage, MD
Baylor College of Medicine
Outcome results
None listed