Brain monitoring breakthrough to go public

Cortical, is an investee company of BPH Energy Ltd focused on developing the next generation brain function monitors.

The company was formed in 2004 to commercialize technology developed by researcher Professor David Liley at Swinburne University of Technology. This is the first time the university has been directly involved with an IPO.

Cortical's core-product the Brain Anaesthesia Response (BAR) monitor has been developed with the objective of better detecting the effect of anaesthetic agents on brain activity, to help anaesthetists keep patients optimally anaesthetised.

The BAR monitor aims to enable doctors to observe a person's consciousness and analgesic state separately and independently. This could lead to numerous benefits for surgery patients, according to Liley, who, together with company co-founder Mr. Louis Delacretaz, developed the prototype BAR monitor.

"Being able to optimize the delivery of anaesthesia has not only been shown to reduce the incidence of intra-operative awareness, it is believed it will also improve patient recovery times as well as allowing quicker mobilisation after surgery," Liley said.

"From a hospital's perspective it's also possible to save a considerable amount of money in terms of drug costs."

The company plans to conduct trials to validate the BAR monitoring system with the intention of developing stand alone products and modules that integrate with market leading patient monitoring systems.

Cortical will require Professor Liley's continued input to ensure that its objectives are met and a consultancy agreement has been finalized. In addition, regulatory approval and successful completion of its planned trials of the BAR Monitor will also need to need to be achieved.

Provided by Swinburne University of Technology