BioTras Awarded U.S. Patent for Spine Simulator

BioTras LLC, a biomedical company owned by Dallas, Texas-based pain management doctors John East and Brandon Knutson, has received a U.S. Patent for AsTris 1.0, a medical training simulator that is redefining interventional pain management training. The patent was approved March 1.

East, who is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine, has performed more than 20,000 spinal injections over the course of his 14-year career.

“It takes extreme precision and experience to perform spinal injections correctly. Until now, the only way you could practice was on a live human, a cadaver or on crude, non-realistic models,” said East. “The AsTris 1.0 is clear, which allows the practitioner to observe needle movement as the needle is advanced towards the spine. It can also be customized to include a variety of skeletal structures to meet a wider scope of training needs.”

East and Knutson set out three years ago to develop the patented spine simulator and take the patient out of the training equation. The AsTris 1.0 allows resident physicians, fellows, post-grad physicians and other health care professionals to practice performing hundreds, even thousands of injections before ever injecting a real person.

The AsTris 1.0 is different than anything currently on the market and is made of a fusable thermo plastic material that has the feel of human tissue. It is also made of re-constructed human vertebrae, and other real bone elements that look real under X-rays.

“The AsTris 1.0 simulator will be available this April,” said Knutson. “It is our goal to partner with medical technology companies, for-profit training facilities, medical schools, residency and fellowship training programs. We expect the second and third generation models of AsTris 1.0 to be used in training for specialties outside of pain management such as neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery.”

BioTras is headquartered in McKinney, Texas.