2021-2023 Spina Bifida Research Study- Grant Continuation and Update

Partnered with the Fetal Institiute, the physicians have been able to develop an altogether new surgical technique for babies diagnosed with Spina Bifida. In 2021 and 2022 they will be focused on increasing their patient accrual rate, the development of animated videos of surgeries for patient information and physician education. They will also be developing an endoscopic tower for their lab to aid in the ex-vivo surgical training modules. This equipment will be used to train in the Open Spina Bifida surgical technique, as well as for other surgical procedures that are currently in use and development. Publications from their work will be posted upon completion.

Update of funds used- Thanks to the Brianna Marie Foundation the 2021-2022 funds were successfully used for the folliowing to include: IRB submission costs, outcome data collection, and video and marketing for the research study on the fetoscopic repair of open spina bifida. They were approved by the FDA to extend the number of patients in the spina bifida study which shows incredible confidence and advancements in this field. Additional funds are needed to continue to advertise the study to be able to complete the research and apply for FDA approval. They foresee that their surgical technique will become the new standard of care for open spina bifida.