It’s not all in your head

Eric Baron, D.O. (’04), Cleveland Clinic, has invented a puncture needle to take the headache out of spinal taps.

By Colleen Kiphart

Photo by Josh Armstrong

Eric Baron, D.O. (’04), knows that headaches can be a pain in the neck. In fact, he has followed the sources of headaches all the way down the spine. As last year’s chief neurology resident at the Cleveland Clinic, when Baron wasn’t studying headaches originating in the neck, he perfected his namesake Baron Rapid Lumbar Puncture Needle for speedier, less traumatic spinal taps.

“I’ve always been interested in the mind and brain,” Baron says. “I went into neurology because, through imaging, we can trace and locate precise problems in the nervous system.”

Baron’s methodical approach to systems led him to invent the new puncture needle, which earned him the Cleveland Clinic’s “Innovator Award” for 2007-2008.

To minimize post-spinal tap headaches, Baron’s needle combines two tips: the cutting tip and the atraumatic tip. On its own, a cutting needle tip works quickly, but severs the dural membrane around the spine, causing days of headaches. An atraumatic tip works slowly, parting the membrane like a curtain, so there is less to heal. Baron’s needle does both.

Baron, who admits that he has “always wanted to invent something,” developed this new equipment with the “Innovations Team” at the Cleveland Clinic. “The added efficiency (of this needle) will reduce delays and increase patient care,” he says.

His concern for both clinical efficiency and patient satisfaction has made Baron popular at work. In addition to being elected chief resident by his colleagues, he also received the Cleveland Clinic 2007-08 Humanitarian Award. The awardee is selected by members of the neurology department, based on candidates’ interactions with colleagues and patients.

Baron has presented his headache research at an American Academy of Neurology conference in Chicago, at the American Society of Neuroimaging in Orlando and twice at the Cleveland Clinic’s research conference.

This July, following his residency, Baron begins the Cleveland Clinic’s yearlong Fellowship in Headaches, during which he will explore the full range of headache diagnoses and treatments and, he says, incorporate osteopathic manipulative treatment into his clinical care.

“(OMT) is based on optimizing structure,” Baron explains. “A lot of people have chronic neck problems, and when that happens it sets you up for a headache. If you focus on what’s out of alignment, in this case the neck, and you get that back into alignment, your symptoms will improve.”

What else does the future hold for Baron? More research, he hopes.

“I think it is important to just be on the cutting edge in order to be a good doctor,” he says. “Doing research in certain areas keeps you in the top notes of information. When that happens, you can give patients the best treatments, the best diagnosis and a better quality of life.”