As part of its continuing commitment to growing its presence in the neurosurgical market, Renishaw has acquired, for a cash consideration, a 75% stake in Schaerer Mayfield NeuroMate AG, based in Switzerland, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Schaerer Mayfield NeuroMate Sarl, a leading manufacturer of surgical robots for neurosurgery, based in Lyon, France. The deal was completed on 20th November 2008.

The NeuroMate® image-guided surgical robot has been developed and manufactured by an expert team in Silicon Valley, USA and Lyon, France. To date the robot has been used in over 9,000 neurosurgical procedures including Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Motor Cortex Stimulation (MCS), Stereo Electro-Encephalography (SEEG), neuro-endoscopy, radio-surgery, biopsy, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). It is the world’s only such robot with both the United States Food and Drug Authority (FDA) approval and European CE mark for stereotactic neurosurgery, and CE mark for neuro-endoscopy applications. In addition, the NeuroMate® robot is approved by the Japanese ministry of health.

The growth of precision-guided neurosurgery is set to drive further growth in the robot-assisted surgery market. As demands for increased accuracy, safety and efficiencies are required and clinical needs continue to multiply, the prospect of expanding the success of NeuroMate® in France, where there is a proven installed base, to other markets, represents a great opportunity.

Full story at www.renishaw.com.