Our analysts evaluate clinical trial data, along with information regarding safety issues, coverage policies from the private and public sectors, regulatory approvals, consensus statements, and an overall projection of the potential clinical efficacy and economic impact of the technology. Reports are reviewed annually up to 5 years post publication to determine if there is new literature or evidence that would impact a change in rating and warrant an updated report.
Health Problem: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is 1 of 4 major ligaments in the knee joint that maintain stability of the joint. Most ACL injuries are complete or near-complete tears resulting in substantial joint instability.
Technology Description: ACL reconstruction is a surgical procedure in which a torn ACL is replaced with a tendon graft ret…
Health Problem: Estimates suggest that 4 million Americans suffer from severe treatment-resistant depression (TRD) that is refractory to multiple therapies. TRD is typically defined as depression that does not respond to at least 2 attempts at treatment of adequate duration with appropriate doses of antidepressants, but there is no official consensus definition.
Health Problem: Intractable epilepsy is diagnosed in 5% to 20% of pediatric patients with new-onset epilepsy. If uncontrolled, seizures in childhood may have a detrimental or even catastrophic impact on the developing brain. A connection has been made between inflammatory processes and neurological disease, including epilepsy, which may present new therapeutic approaches.
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Health Problem: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful condition in which the cartilage between the bones degenerates, no longer providing a smooth, gliding surface for motion or adequate cushioning. Because OA damages the cartilage and may ultimately damage the bone, it disrupts how components work together, resulting in pain, swelling, inflammation, muscle weakness, impaired quali…
Health Problem: In women, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer and second most common cause of cancer death. Conventional mammography provides 2-dimensional (2D) views of the breasts with notable tissue overlap, in some cases obscuring lesions that may be cancerous or giving a false impression that lesions are present.
Technology Description:
Health Problem: Varicose veins, also known as varicosities, are a common manifestation of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a category of chronic venous disease (CVD). Varicose veins are enlarged and tortuous vessels (≥ 3 millimeters [mm] in diameter) that develop when the thin flaps of the venous valves no longer meet in the midline, thereby allowing blood to reflux, or flo…
Health Problem: Patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may be considered high risk based on a variety of factors, including advanced age, comorbidities, and lesion-specific characteristics. Patients undergoing high-risk PCI (HRPCI) may require mechanical circulatory support (MCS) during the PCI procedure to prevent adverse events and improve clinical outc…
Rationale: Targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided biopsy techniques, such as MRI-guided in-bore (MRI-IB) biopsy, have been developed to increase identification of clinically significant prostate cancer without increasing the detection of clinically nonsignificant tumors.
Technology Description: MRI-IB biopsy is a technique that uses MRI images…
Rationale: Diabetes mellitus can damage blood vessels, compromising blood flow and oxygen circulation. Resulting tissue hypoxia may contribute to failure of wounds to heal. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been proposed as a treatment adjunct to wound care to improve oxygenation and promote healing when a diabetic patient has chronic foot ulcers despite standard wound ther…
Rationale: Total disc replacement (TDR) was developed to relieve pain, restore disc height, and maintain the natural motion of the spine. Developers of artificial cervical discs sought to eliminate the problems associated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) such as the need for a hip bone autograft, disease recurrence, adjacent segment…