Page 31 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2017

I’ve had patients who are now a year out from the Clarifix procedure with sustained improvement of their symptoms.
Dr. Raymond Weiss
After seeing the results of the process, medical professionals ultimately saw that this big change was for the better, especially for the patients. “This procedure could be done less invasively and less expensively while getting results that were just as good if not better,” said Dr. Weiss. Today, Balloon Sinuplasty has become a standard of care within the medical field.
Since his involvement with the development of Balloon Sinuplasty, Dr. Weiss has become affiliated with a variety of startup companies. “I started working with Arrinex Inc. about three years ago,” he said. “The founder already had an idea
in place based on some research showing that what patients complain about the most is a runny nose. We wanted to look at those who experience a runny nose despite medicine and ask ourselves what we could do at that stage.”
The group found a category of patients who have a runny nose due to nerve involvement or nerve reflex, and determined that the nerve could be addressed with medicine or with a device that could alter the firing of the nerve. “It had been shown about 40 years ago with some research that you could actually freeze that nerve, changing the way it fired and eliminating the issue of a runny nose,” Dr. Weiss continued. “However, 40 years ago they didn’t have the devices to do much with that initial research.”
The Clarifix device was FDA approved a few months ago and is commercializing now. “For now it’ll only be a limited release, so there are only a few areas of the country that
will have access to it for the first year,” said Dr. Weiss. “The exciting thing is that the initial study has been completed and was presented at the American Rhinology Society.
The initial group of patients experienced a dramatic improvement in the amount of runny noses and congestion they experienced. After six months, the patients had experienced no degradation. “Since then, I’ve had patients who are now a year out and still have no reduction in the improvement of their symptoms following Clarifix. We’re hoping to get two to four years or maybe even longer out of the procedure.”
“The world has changed to the point that whether you’re
in medicine or business, or even if you’re an artist or writer, you can be a very important addition to our society and to the world from right here on the Coast. You don’t have to live in New York to make a difference. There are some unbelievably great things that have come from the Coast, and I’m very proud of the fact that we produced really good research, despite the unbelievably strong scrutiny that was put on us.”
ABOVE: Clarifix and Balloon Sinuplasty devices. BELOW TOP: Clarifix device during cryotherapy freeze. BELOW BOTTOM: DR. RAYMOND WEISS prepares to perform the Clarifix procedure on Terrie Gill.
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March 2017 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 31