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First Patient Treatments Start with New Gyroscopic Radiosurgery Platform

Next-gen technology looks to supplant many invasive brain surgeries, expand patient access to life-saving cancer care.

ZAP Surgical Systems, Inc. today announced that its ZAP-X® Gyroscopic Radiosurgery™ platform began clinical treatments at Barrow Brain and Spine, a partner of Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. FDA-cleared in September of 2017, the ZAP-X platform delivers high-dose stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to non-invasively ablate brain tumors and other select intracranial conditions. For numerous indications, SRS is proven to be an effective alternative to invasive surgery.

Although each year more than a million brain tumor patients worldwide are potential candidates for SRS, only 150,000 currently receive such treatment. The ZAP-X platform was created to address this unmet need. To deliver the radiation necessary for SRS, ZAP-X utilizes a modern linear accelerator to obviate the historical use of Cobalt-60 and the related costs and challenges of handling radioactive isotopes. ZAP-X also incorporates a unique self-shielded design that typically eliminates the need for costly radiation vaults. By offering more cost-effective care, ZAP-X strives to bring world-class non-invasive radiosurgery to many more patients.

“The Barrow team is excited to be the world’s first provider of this innovative technology,” said Dr. F. David Barranco, chief medical officer and neurosurgeon at Barrow Neurological Institute. “Barrow treats more brain tumors than any institution in the U.S. With the addition of ZAP-X, we remain committed to offering our patients the most comprehensive set of treatment options for their unique conditions.”

“ZAP-X is a novel platform designed to bring neuro-radiosurgery to the more than one million patients that every year lack access to such non-invasive therapy,” added Dr. Igor Barani, associate professor and chair of the department of radiation oncology at Barrow Neurological Institute.

“After almost a decade of effort, we’re incredibly proud of what the ZAP-X can mean to cancer patients,” said Dr. John Adler, CEO of ZAP Surgical Systems and Dorothy & TK Chan Emeritus Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University. “Using leading-edge technology, we’ve removed many historical limitations to the wider availability of SRS, and in doing so, seek to establish a new standard in precision radiation medicine.”

System animations can be found at https://youtu.be/zCpI6p8X9Jg.


About Barrow Brain and Spine
Barrow Brain and Spine is a multi-specialty neurosurgery practice focused in the areas of neurosurgery, brain tumor care, advanced spine care and pain management. As a partner of Barrow Neurological Institute, the practice encompasses 26 neurosurgeons, and 7 pain and rehabilitation specialists, and performs more than 8,000 surgeries each year. This globally recognized group directs the Neurosurgery Residency Program at Barrow, which is part of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona and serves more than 21,000 patients per year.

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