SEISMIC consortium secures EUR 23.5 million IHI grant to pioneer next-generation minimally invasive brain treatments

“The shift from open brain surgery to minimally invasive procedures, supported by advanced imaging and precision navigation, holds tremendous potential to improve patient care,” said Bert van Meurs, Chief Business Leader for Image Guided Therapy at Royal Philips. “It’s a major undertaking and through SEISMIC, we’re bringing together the necessary medical specialties, technology domains and patient perspectives to help break down the barriers to this transition. By combining precision surgical techniques with real-time imaging and intelligent decision support, our goal is to simplify complex procedures, improve outcomes and broaden access to advanced neurosurgical care across Europe and beyond.”

“The brain is extraordinarily complex and delicate. It defines who we are, including our intelligence, personality, and consciousness,” said Pieter Kruizinga, researcher at Erasmus MC and academic lead of the SEISMIC consortium. “Operating on the brain remains one of the greatest challenges in modern medicine, as the margin between helping and harming a patient can be extremely small. SEISMIC is about shifting that balance in the right direction by making neurosurgical procedures less invasive, more precise, and better supported by real-time imaging, data, and training. By bringing these elements together, we aim to improve outcomes for patients and enhance the way neurosurgeons work.”

Innovation through public-private partnership
The SEISMIC public-private partnership comprises nine medical technology industry partners, two patient organizations and seven academic partners:

• Industry partners: Philips, Oldelft Ultrasound, DEMCON Curix, Yaskawa, us4us, Caresyntax, Surgical Science, Boston Scientific, and Bracco.
• Patient organizations: Fundacio Ictus (stroke) and Cancer Patients Europe.
• Academic partners: Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc), Hospital Clinic Barcelona (including IDIBAPS), Vall d'Hebron University Hospital/Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), and University of Ljubljana. 

The burden of neurological conditions and urgent minimally invasive treatment needs
Neurological conditions, including severe conditions such as bleedings deep in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke), chronic bleeding between the skull and the brain (subdural hematoma) and brain tumors are a leading cause of ill health, disability, and overall disease burden globally [1]. Beyond health loss, neurological conditions drive substantial socioeconomic costs, from long-term care and healthcare expenditures to productivity loss and caregiver burden, intensified by population ageing.

While there have been significant advances in the field of neurosurgery, minimally invasive neurosurgical techniques continue to lag significantly behind other surgical disciplines. Current clinical procedures rely on large skull openings, optical and electromagnetic surgical navigation systems based on preoperative imaging, and fragmented intraoperative imaging, which disrupt surgical workflows and compromise precision. The SEISMIC project seeks to transform these potentially high-risk neurosurgical procedures into safer, faster, and more accessible interventions.

SEISMIC will develop an integrated suite of technologies, including real-time surgical navigation that combines ultrasound guidance with live X-ray imaging, highly realistic simulation platforms for clinician training, and minimally invasive biopsy and treatment techniques. SEISMIC will focus on three neurological conditions in which surgery is critical to patient survival and quality of life: intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding deep within the brain, also known as a hemorrhagic stroke), subdural hematoma (bleeding between the skull and the brain), and brain tumors (where surgery is essential for both diagnosis and treatment).

• Intracerebral hemorrhage: SEISMIC will explore how real-time ultrasound and X-ray imaging can guide a minimally invasive drainage device through a small skull opening to precisely reach and evacuate deep intracerebral bleeding
• Subdural hematoma: The team will investigate a single, image-guided procedure that combines hematoma drainage with embolization of the middle meningeal artery. This approach is important because bleeding recurs in approximately 30% of patients after surgery, and occluding the artery may help prevent recurrence
• Brain tumor diagnosis: This typically requires open brain surgery to obtain a tissue sample for analysis. To reduce the need for surgery, SEISMIC will explore whether diagnostic information can be obtained through minimally invasive, focused ultrasound-enhanced liquid biopsy
• Brain tumor treatment: The team will assess the use of cryoablation – an approach that uses extreme cold to destroy tissue – for the treatment of brain tumors. While cryoablation is already used for other cancers, brain tumors are typically removed via open surgery. In this approach, a cryoablation probe would be introduced through a small skull opening and guided to the tumor using X-ray and ultrasound imaging

By reducing procedure times, minimizing surgical trauma, and accelerating patient recovery, the SEISMIC project aims to improve clinical outcomes and expand access to specialized neurosurgical care for currently underserved populations.

The SEISMIC website will be live soon: www.seismic-project.eu.

The CORDIS project page for SEISMIC can be accessed here. The IHI factsheet for SEISMIC can be found here.

References
[1]    The Lancet Global Health: Global brain health—the time to act is now; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(23)00602-2/fulltext. The Lancet Neurology: Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(24)00038-3/fulltext.

This project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under grant agreement No 101253085. The JU receives support from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program and life science industries represented by COCIR, EFPIA, Europa Bío, MedTech Europe and Vaccines Europe. SEISMIC is funded by the European Union, private members, and those contributing partners of the IHI JU. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the aforementioned parties. Neither of the aforementioned parties can be held responsible for them.

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About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips’ patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, image-guided therapy, monitoring and enterprise informatics, as well as in personal health. Philips generated 2025 sales of EUR 18 billion and employs approximately 64,800 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

Attachments

• Members of the SEISMIC project team
• SEISMIC Kickoff Meeting at Philips in Best, the Netherlands
• SEISMIC project logo