In April, the Technology Assessment Committee (TAC) reviewed and approved a request for a portable CT scanner for ICU patients. Guests Tina Huang, MD, University of Minnesota Physicians, otolaryngology and neuro-otology, and Mustapha Ezzedine, MD, University of Minnesota Physicians and director, neurocritical care, presented data. One advantage of using the portable scanner is increased patient safety by avoiding movement of critically ill patients. While the portable scanner appears clinically and financially advantageous, staff and leadership should conduct an evaluation of the ICU, including environmental assessment.

Guest Manuel Pinto, MD, Twin Cities Spine Center, a Fairview Physician Associates clinic, and Fairview Ridges Hospital, presented the TranS1 AxiaLIF™ for posterior lumbar fusions, for which TAC

approved a six-month trial. TAC granted limited approval based on the FDA's 510k designation, meaning the product lacks published clinical evidence of efficacy and outcomes. The system allows for a significantly less invasive procedure: a 1-inch incision near the gluteal cleft versus entering through the abdomen.

All devices are subject to review and final approval by Fairview's clinical and administrative leadership.

TAC meets monthly to address new technology representing $1,000 of incremental case cost or more than $100,000 in capital costs. TAC only reviews products and makes no funding decisions.

For more information, contact Jan McNelly, 612-672-5130, jmcnell1@fairview.org.

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