Amazing Medical Breakthrough in the Bronx

Sometimes medicine simply can’t solve a patient’s problems — and sometimes it produces miracles.   The later was the case recently for Jesus Barrios who was shot twice in the head.   One of the bullets left staple sized fragments in his brain, and he was faced with a lifetime of seizures, infections, vision loss and other potential difficulties.

New Technology Paving the Way

Dr. Narayan Sundaresan, the chief neurosurgeon at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, decided to try a new technology on Barrios.   With the technology, he extracted the fragments and has changed Barrios’ life.

As Jesus Barrios said,

“I’m great. I only have a little pain; I still have one fragment in my jaw. My vision is getting better. My boy is 6 years old… I didn’t know if I would ever see him again.”

Vycor Technology

The technology that Dr. Sundaresan used was the ViewSite Brain Access System developed by Vycor Medical Inc.   Approximately 60 hospitals around the country use it, but they do so to reach deep targets, small tumors and similar problems.

Vycor’s president, Ken Coviello explained that he had not envisioned the product being used for bullet wounds.   As he said, “We were somewhat surprised. Bullets were never on the radar. This is the first bullet to be removed.”

Coviello said that now his company envisions that the ViewSite Brain Access System could have wartime implications — to be used for frontline hospitals to help stabilize soldiers.

Lincoln hospital only recently acquired the Vycor product and Dr. Sundaresan was the first to use it in this fashion.   As Sundaresan said, “We would not have attempted this without this technology. It’s very exciting.”