Neurognostics to partner with Racine distributor

Milwaukee, Wis. - A Milwaukee-area producer of brain imaging devices was looking for an experienced distributor to help expand its market share, and it did not have to look far.

Three-year-old Neurognostics, Inc., a company specializing in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) products and services, has entered a distributorship agreement with Racine-based Ad-Tech Medical Instrument Co. to promote its main product line, MindState.

Douglas Tucker, CEO of Neurognostics, said his company believes the agreement reflects increasing optimism about fMRI's utility in presurgical brain mapping applications. As a low-risk, non-invasive procedure, fMRI can help neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons identify important regions within the brain to aid in surgical decision-making.

The 21-year-old Ad-Tech has distributed and produced products for the surgical treatment of epilepsy, neuro-monitoring, and neurosurgery. Approximately 10 percent of epilepsy patients may be candidates for surgical treatment.

The MindState product line includes fMRI data acquisition, processing, and reporting devices. These are functions that will allow Ad-Tech to expand its product offerings to customers in more than 40 countries. Neurognostics, which was spun out of the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2003, will benefit as well. By working with Ad-Tech, it has the opportunity to reach customers that have a growing interest in functional imaging, particularly in the clinical environment.

"They [Ad-Tech] know these customers, and they know this marketplace," Tucker said. "We are a young company, and we don't have a lot of distribution capability, so it is excellent for us to match up with a company that has a lot of experience in that area."

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