BrainLAB Case Study

BrainLAB was born when Stefan Vilsmeier, once a German schoolboy living in Munich, realized there had to be a better way to integrate the visualization and mapping capabilities of software and the actual physical act of surgery. Stefan Vilsmeier, reaching the University of Vienna, was not satisfied with the programs for neurosurgery procedures then in use and began work on what was to be the first mouse-controlled and menu-driven software for surgical planning and navigation. BrainLAB solutions to the outdated technique of 2-D visualization produced by CT and MRI equipment, is to allow The image-guided systems (IGS) expansion from a single system to operating suites to digitally integrated hospitals covering all subspecialties from neurosurgery, orthopedics, and spine & trauma. BrainLAB would become the innovator in image-guided surgery and stereotactic radiosurgery. The IGS provided highly accurate real-time information used for navigation during surgical procedures. This utility is meant to serve as a computer terminal for physicians to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans and other digital medical information for better informed decisions. BrainLAB’s initial goals were to cure cancer with this software, develop, manufacturer, and markets software-driven medical technology that enables procedures that are more precise, less invasive, and therefore less expensive than traditional treatments. In my critical analysis of the case I will implement the market and industry attractiveness of BrainLAB’s IGS systems and answer these key questions through the body of my critical analysis, such as: Should BrainLAB and Medtronic combine business so that it would benefit from BranLAB’s number one position in Europe/Asia and Medtronic’s number one position in the U.S.? How might the two competing product lines be managed? Whether or not to sell BrainLAB to Medtronic, due to a proposed patent infringement from Medtronic? Through my analysis, I am hopeful that