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Dear Listmembers, I would like to forward the following information for those of you whom have been waiting for improvements in the surgical treatment of PD. This is not an advertisement and is informational only. Natrex- Two Maine Companies have partnered to improve Parkinson's surgical procedures through a new medical device called the NATREX. It replaces the very uncomfortable, cumbersome and painful stereotactic headgear used in PD surgeries with a much smaller device. Dr. Joel Franck, a neurosurgeon at St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, Maine has teamed with FHC, Inc. (Fred Haer Co.) of Bowdoinham, Maine to form Neural Targeting, LLC. They have developed a small fixture called the Natrex which is mounted to the skull during surgery and used to implant electrodes for measuring brain activity or to assist in placing a lesion on a portion of the brain. Natrex uses Light Emitting Diode (LED) system manufactured by Surgical Navigation Technologies to superimpose the electode position with an MRI. This is significant because it will enable the patient to have imaging done prior to the day of surgery and therefore eliminates any need of the protective sheild (approximate weight is 15lbs) to be worn by the patient having a same day MRI required with the stereotactic equipment already in place. This will reduce a significant amount of time required by the current procedure. And with a less restrained patient will also add to their ability to be involved with physiologic responses to ensure target area success. There have been two surgeries with the new apparattus in St. Louis by Dr. Jamie Henderson. The first one in Maine will be performed by Dr. Franck in March. They are confident this new procedure will improve accuracy with the LED system acting like a stealth imaging technology and being accurate to within microns as opposed to the existing stereotaxy accuracy of to 1 millimeter. Also, anyone who has had the old headgear fastened through ear screws, will find the headgear a significant impovement as well. (I have a picture, but is there a way to post it to the list?) FHC also produces and markets Microtargeting Electrodes and Instrumentation. These products are used to more precisely locate brain structures. These electrodes have been used over many parts of the world and FHC expects to have FDA approval soon. For further information please contact: Dr. Joel Franck - 207-777-4460 Greg Leeman