DANI donates 'Visualase', a precision laser for neurosurgery, to San Bortolo Foundation

When San Bortolo's neurosurgery department calls, DANI answers: Sir Giancarlo Dani promptly took up surgeon Piacentini's call for a new state-of-the-art equipment able to operate on the brain. It is called Visualase, the laser ablation system that allows millimetrically precise and minimally invasive surgery, especially in areas that cannot be reached with traditional surgical approaches, giving new hope to patients suffering from rare forms of epilepsy as well as brain cancer that would otherwise be inoperable.

A year ago, at the peak of the lockdown, the DANI Group purchased the new device, bearing all costs with a 160,000 euro donation. A state-of-the-art technology with well-documented effectiveness and reliability. First used in 2008, in the United States it has already been used for 5,200 treatments in around 150 hospitals, while the case history in Europe - where it was only introduced in 2018 - is more limited but still significant: 150 operations in 25 centers.

"Since 1950, our group has been recognized and distinguished in the world for its way of being, thinking and working, and for having traced the path of sustainability with the aim of providing a concrete contribution to the creation of a better world," says Giancarlo Dani, Chairman. "The philosophy that guides our choices - and not only our entrepreneurial ones - is to always look to the future, beyond the horizon line. And this far-sightedness relates both to the growth of our company, making products of excellence, recognized as an example of Made in Italy and sustainability in the world and creating jobs for an ever increasing number of employees, and on the other hand to giving back to the environment, society and the territory in which we operate, wealth and aid. This is why I chose to fully support the purchase of the machine: saving lives, when it is possible to do so, is the duty of us all, and I am proud of the contribution that DANI has made to the city and the region".

This is the spirit in which the San Bortolo Foundation joined the project. DANI's contribution has been materially translated into the purchase of a state-of-the-art machine, to give support to those living with an illness, to give hope to patients and families. Intesa San Paolo bank, then matched the donation with its platform to collect future donations with Fondazione San Bortolo, to support the department with the purchase of the so-called consumables, the expensive disposable probes.

"Hope," continues Dani, "means helping those who suffer to go beyond the disease, beyond suffering, beyond the unknown of the future. In a course of treatment, particularly when one is forced to face the diagnosis and treatment of a brain cancer or epilepsy, knowing that one can count on a department of excellence with minimally invasive but equally effective machinery and instruments makes all the difference."

The system is composed of a laser, issued by a fiber inserted into a catheter with a diameter of just 2.5 millimeters. Thanks to its extremely small size, the catheter - with the laser inside it - can be positioned at the exact spot on the brain to be treated. Using the laser, the brain tissue with the lesions is 'burnt' with extreme precision, all under a sophisticated guidance system using the images acquired by MRI. Specific software makes it possible to visualize and process, from the MRI data, the volume of the lesion area and the temperature reached, thus monitoring the progress of the procedure in real time, with extreme safety for the patient.

With specific regard to the treatment of epilepsy, considering that only five procedures have been performed so far in Italy using laser ablation, one of which was carried out by Dr. Volpin's team at the Arzignano hospital in recent months with a rented machine, it is clear that this new equipment, the first in Italy, makes Neurosurgery at San Bortolo a candidate to become a national reference center for the treatment of the most complex cases of epilepsy, inoperable with traditional methods.

"Once again, the Vicenza community confirms itself to be extraordinarily generous," emphasizes Dr. Maria Giuseppina Bonavina, "but also capable of building a network, creating synergies between the forces of the territory to achieve a common goal. This new equipment will further enhance the highly specialized skills of Vicenza Neurosurgery, but it has been made possible thanks to the mobilization capacity of the San Bortolo Foundation, in this project assisted by Intesa Sanpaolo, which has made its infrastructure available for the collection of donations from the citizens'.

To support the project with a donation, a dedicated page is active on the website of For Funding: