3D Printed Port Offers Hope for Parkinson's Cure
March 11, 2019Comments
Renishaw, the U.K.-based engineering technology solutions provider with U.S. operations in West Dundee, IL, has built an additively manufactured device used in a clinical trial for treating Parkinson’s. The device enables the precise delivery of a new drug candidate with the hope of regenerating dying dopamine brain cells in people with Parkinson’s, thereby improve their symptoms.
Using the Renishaw neuromate surgical robot, 42 trial patients had embedded into their skulls the 3D printed titanium port through which the drug, Glial Cell Line Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF), could be delivered via micro-catheters to the putamen, a critical region of the brain for motor function.
Trial results, the subject of a two-part BBC documentary, showed that the drug-delivery system performed effectively and reliably. A similar device developed by Renishaw called neuroinfuse, is now being used in other clinical trials.
See also: Renishaw Inc.
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