CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rivanna Medical, a commercial-stage medical device company that has developed a platform of technologies based on medical ultrasound, announced today that it has appointed Rebecca D. Minehart, M.D., as a clinical advisor. The RIVANNA clinical advisory board also includes Brendan Carvalho, M.D., Associate Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine; and Thomas R. Hill, M.D., Hemlock Medical PLLC.
Dr. Minehart is Assistant Program Director, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine (DACCPM) Anesthesia Residency Program, as well as Program Director of the Obstetric Anesthesia Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and has been a faculty member since August 2007.
“Given that RIVANNA’s initial commercial application of its Accuro™ platform, based on automated 3D navigation, is designed for guiding clinicians to a first-attempt success in administering spinal anesthesia, we believe that Dr. Minehart epitomizes the perfect union of clinical experience and academic prowess to expand our clinical advisory board,” said John A. Williams, President and CEO. 
According to Mr. Williams, the Accuro platform has an addressable $1.1 billion U.S. market today. “In light of the significant unmet clinical need for automated image guidance in general, and the spinal anesthesia market in particular, we look forward to soon being able to fast-forward the U.S. commercialization of Accuro, especially with a strategic partner.”
Spinal anesthesia often fails due to reliance on “blind” needle guidance. There are 20+ million neuraxial anesthesia-related (epidurals and spinals) procedures per year in the US; 20% to 80% of all needle placement attempts fail, depending on operator skill, age, and patient obesity; obese and elderly are growing demographics.