Northwestern Medicine introduces game-changing Hubly drill for brain surgery

CHICAGO - Surgeons are hailing an innovative new technology at Northwestern Medicine as a game-changer.

This marks a full-circle moment as an undergraduate student at Northwestern University conceived the idea, and a surgeon at Northwestern Medicine became the first to employ it successfully to save a life.

The tool, known as a Hubly drill, is utilized to create a hole in the skull for draining excess fluid from the brain and relieving pressure. Doctors assert that it surpasses the common practice across the country, a hand-crank drill, due to its speed, safety, and precision.

The surgical team debuted the tool in October last year, six years after Casey Qadir initially developed it.

"It’s incredibly meaningful that being founded out of Northwestern, Northwestern also got to be the first place where we had an impact on the patient population," Qadir remarked.

Dr. Matthews Potts added, "One thing that’s been really nice to see is Northwestern students and residents coming together from different departments, different backgrounds, but putting their heads together and creating something that several years later is now, I think, poised to have a huge impact."

In the U.S., doctors perform about 25,000 of these types of procedures every year.