Cranial Technologies

Arizona Based Cranial Technologies Helps Children Across the World

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Cranial Technologies, founded in 1986 by Jeanne Pomatto-Hertz, developed a noninvasive device to help mold the heads of babies with plagiocephaly (abnormal head shape). Hertz created the DOC Band, which is now used at clinics nationwide and in Europe. Once handmade by Hertz herself, each custom-fitted DOC Band is now made by a specially trained staff in Tempe.

Cranial Tech has clinics in sixteen states and has treated more than 35,000 babies in the last 20 years. Cranial Tech has recently patented a new software package and imaging process that digitally maps a baby's head.

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BUSINESS PROFILE: CRANIAL TECHNOLOGIES
Arizona Business Gazette (Phoenix, AZ)
April 19, 2007
Author: Patricia Bathurst, Special for the ABG
Who: Jeanne Pomatto-Hertz, CEO.
When established: Founded in 1986, when Jeanne Pomatto-Hertz realized her research on infants with abnormal head shapes had very practical applications when it came to correcting them without surgery. (Part of that research identified that abnormal head shape wasn't always linked to craniosynostosis, a premature fusing of an infant's skull bones.).

What: If your baby's head has developed an unusual shape, it may be due to positional plagiocephaly, which results from external pressure on the baby's soft skull. Hertz developed the DOC Band, a 6-oz device consisting of an outer plastic shell with a foam lining.

Mild pressure is applied to capture the growth of an infant's head, and adjustments are made to the band weekly or biweekly to hold or encourage growth in different areas.

Where: Headquartered in Tempe, with physicians who work with the company at 19 clinics in 16 states around the country.

How much: Hertz's heart, soul and energy are in this company. She began Cranial Technologies after owning and operating a successful orthotics practice that specialized in custom pediatric products, mostly for scoliosis and cerebral palsy patients, during the early '80s.

By 1986, she was collaborating in research focused on plagiocephaly and had developed the DOC Band. She left the orthotics practice permanently in 1988 to focus on the causes and treatments of plagiocephaly.

How many: 130 staff members, more than 35,000 babies.

Why it's called that: Hertz and her team have developed a highly sophisticated approach to treating these cranial conditions in which casts are made of an infant's head to custom craft the DOC Band.

Bright idea: When Hertz first proposed a non-surgical treatment for plagiocephaly, the medical community was skeptical that the condition actually existed and skeptical that the band would help. Then came the "back to sleep" pediatric movement designed to prevent SIDS. The number of parents asking why their child's head was somehow flattened on one side escalated dramatically.

This isn't just an appearance issue. At that age, the baby's brain needs to be able to grow without being compressed.

Not such a good idea: "It never occurred to me it couldn't work! I just picked a day that I would no longer accept referrals for any work below the neck. I really believe that if I just do the best job, give them the best care ... the rest will follow."

Biggest challenge: For years, many pediatricians dismissed the idea that plagiocephaly was a "real" condition. "In the beginning, one of the greater challenges was getting that acceptance. There was one paper we tried to present for several years. I'm not a doctor and I'm a woman. It was a real challenge to break into this field. And in the beginning, only one in around 300 babies developed this condition."

Putting infants on their backs to sleep and keeping them in baby seats and carriers during the day has dramatically increased the incidence of plagiocephaly. "Babies just don't get much tummy time anymore."

Why I do this: "Twenty years later, it's still intriguing to me."

What she wishes she'd known before she started: How fast the need for the DOC Band would grow and how much she would continue to learn. "To me, there's still a learning curve here. This is a company that looks at constant improvement."

The next big thing: The company just patented a new software package and imaging process that digitally maps an infant's head. Hertz anticipates that it will significantly improve their ability to fit the bands and to enhance the entire process for still better outcomes.

Long-term: Plagiocephaly is a global problem. It presents issues in brain growth, Hertz said. It's one thing to joke about "the little round-headed kid," but when that kid can't fit into a bike helmet, find a baseball cap that fits, or join the hockey team because the helmet won't fit, that's another issue.

Exit strategy: "This does still drive me," Hertz said. "And what we do here I want to continue, to be sure that I can, for now, guide this company so when I'm not here it will go on." Hertz is still developing the next steps, for herself and her company. "The value of what we've done is significant, but we need to train more clinicians, add more offices."

Bottom line: "I've always loved life ... I'm happy to get up every day." The total cost of a DOC Band, including evaluations, office visits, 3-D entry and exit casts, and medical photos showing the outcome is $3,000. More than 35,000 children have been treated with DOC Bands.

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