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RRY Publications Orthopedic Decisions Start Here
Big news from Japan…Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences have identified the first gene to be associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) across Asian and Caucasian populations. The gene is involved in the growth and development of the spine during childhood. Dr. Ikuyo Kou and Dr. Shiro Ikegawa have just published their…
Integra LifeSciences Corporation is presently staging the full market release of its Hollywood VI intervertebral body fusion device (IBD) system.
Imagine the massive effort required to spend a full day presenting evidence to the FDA orthopedic panel to prove your device is safe and effective. SpinalMotion, Inc. is doubling down and going for two days in July.
Source: DHHS
Three aspects of CMS’ proposed payment system stand out to us. First orthopedics did ok, not great, but ok. Second the quality police are coming and 25% of all hospitals can expect to be penalized. And finally, the definition of “inpatient” is being tweaked. Oh, oh.
Wenzel Spine, Inc. has launched its VariLift-C stand-alone zero-profile expandable cervical interbody fusion device in the U.S. The company received FDA clearance in January 2013.
Medtronic Inc.’s spinal business launched several new product line additions to the company’s Vertex Select Reconstruction system at the 81st American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. The company also launched the MAST Aligned procedure at the meeting on April 29, 2013.
A study of Titan Spine, LLC Endoskeleton titanium interbody cage, presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery, found that the device achieved rapid lumbar fusions. The study looked at 77 patients with a mean age of 46 years who underwent an ALIF procedure using the Endoskeleton…
Source: Wikimedia Commons and NASA
Orthopedic surgeons make a living with their hands. But a recent study offers data that robotic assistance can improve surgical precision significantly. Is the game changing? Will surgery in the future be as much about the robot as it is the surgeon? The data seems to say “yes.”
Not all vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are the same. For instance, some have different vertebral height profiles. In a peer-reviewed article published in the April edition of Techniques in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management (Volume 16/Number 2), Benvenue Medical, Inc.’s Kiva and Blazer systems were highlighted as being “among the most innovative experimental and commercial…
Relievant Medsystems, Inc., is a Redwood, California-based privately held medical device company pioneering the therapeutic use of basivertebral nerve ablation for treating chronic axial low back pain. The company has completed an interim review of safety results of the company’s SMART Clinical Trial which is evaluating its Intracept therapy for chronic low back pain. The…
The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH), the largest musculoskeletal orthopedic hospital in the United Kingdom, and U.S.-based SpineMark Corporation, have announced a joint agreement to develop a spine research unit within RNOH called Spinal Research Stanmore (SRS). RNOH will provide administrative support and clinicians to meet the demands of industry and internal study goals including…
Hawks Cay Lagoon / Courtesy of Hawk’s Cay
Small spine meetings are so much better for physicians who want to improve their skill sets and learn about new techniques or technologies. There are a couple of very good small meetings. Antonio Castellvi’s meeting in Duck Key in a couple weeks is the best of the best. Here’s why.
Only three surgeons in the Tampa Bay area of Florida are performing robotic spine surgery…and they’re all at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute (FOI). The surgeons are using technology from Mazor Robotics Ltd, and are seeing lower radiation exposure and higher accuracy among implant cases. Asked what led to the decision to move toward this surgery,…
gSource, LLC is announcing a recent donation of its surgical instruments to the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine (FOCOS), an organization founded by Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, M.D., Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Chief Scoliosis Surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery. The donated instruments, valued at $4,380, will be provided to the FOCOS Orthopedic Hospital in…
Family physicians are ordering too many lumbar spine MRI scans, according to a Canadian study reported March 26 by Crystal Phend, senior staff writer for MedPage Today. Only 34% of lower back scans ordered by family physicians were considered appropriate compared with 58% ordered by physicians in other specialties. Derek Emery, M.D. and his colleagues…
A physician-driven study of 40 patients with painful osteolytic vertebra metastases who investigators treated with the Kiva VCF Treatment System by Benvenue Medical, Inc. found that all of the patients experienced a clinically relevant improvement in their pain and statistically significant functional improvement at the end of one month. According to the researchers, the group…
Integra LifeSciences is adding a second cobalt chrome rod for its Daytona and Malibu Spinal Systems. According to the firm’s release, the new rod, called the Enhanced Strength and Stiffness rod (ESS) provides more strength and stiffness than is contained in the existing cobalt chrome rod. The company plans a controlled market release of the…
Source: Wikimedia Commons and Antonio Balestra
TranS1 and Baxano’s proposed merger is a good deal—given the circumstances. Both firms seemed to be faced with a choice between a crew cut or the guillotine. What does this deal say about these promising young spine companies and the environment for innovation generally? Read on.
How much do spinal implants—the screws, plates and cages used in spinal surgery—cost a hospital? A study, presented at the recent AAOS conference and reported on by Nancy Walsh, staff writer for MedPage Today, found wide differences in what hospitals paid for similar devices. In their study Samuel Bederman, M.D., Ph.D., and Sohrab Pahlavan, M.D.,…
Hatch Medical, a medical device incubator and technology brokerage firm, has received two U.S. patents for a unique and interesting percutaneous spinal stabilization system. The firm had entered into a joint venture with physician inventor J. Kevin McGraw, M.D., to develop and market his “microinvasive” spinal stabilization technology to spine surgeons everywhere. McGraw’s invention is…
Amedica Corporation has now implanted 10,000 of its Valeo Interbody Fusion Devices in patients located in ten countries worldwide, according to a company press release. The Valeo Interbody Fusion Device System is made of Amedica’s proprietary Silicon Nitride ceramic technology and is used during surgical procedures to treat spinal disorders such as spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, severe…
NLT SPINE, a company that has developed “non-linear” technology platform enabling implantation of large spinal implants and instruments through small incisions, has opened a subsidiary in the U.S.—in the Boston area in January 2013—to support the commercialization of its advanced technology platform. With the “non-linear” technology platform, implant and instrument size is not limited by…
DiscGenics, Inc., a privately funded spinal therapeutics company located in Salt Lake City, Utah, has successfully completed an animal study that demonstrates the safety of its product designed to reduce back pain caused by degenerative disc disease. The product is called Injectable Discosphere Cell Therapy (IDCT), a substance produced from adult human disc stem cells…
Premia Spine, Ltd, a medical device company headquartered in Tel Aviv, is launching the TOPS spinal implant—which had been under development for years with another Israeli firm, Impliant, Ltd. TOPS is an acronym for Total Posterior Spine System and it differs from other spinal implants in several ways but most pronounced is that it has…
Amedica Corporation, a spinal and reconstructive medical device manufacturer in Salt Lake City, Utah, has received a patent for a spinal disc implant based on its proprietary silicon nitride (Si3N4) material. Called the Total Disc Implant, it has not yet been cleared by the FDA. Company officials say the disc implant differs from existing metal-on-metal…
A new cervical spinal implant designed by Fred Geisler M.D., Ph.D. of the Chicago Back Institute at Swedish Covenant Hospital, has been introduced by Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC. The PL-AGE system is a stand-alone device intended for use in anterior cervical spinal fusion procedures at one level from C3-C7. Dr. Geisler, according to a March…
Matthias Epple, a professor of inorganic chemistry at the Universitat Duisburg, in Essen, Germany, became fascinated by the interface between biology and medical science—specifically how to create bone. He noted that “the repair of bone defects presents a real challenge for surgeons. When possible they collect the patient’s own bone from various locations, such as…
Lanx, Inc. has launched the first anterior cervical fusion system to feature three low-profile plate options. That’s the claim made in a March 4, 2013 statement from the company announcing the launch of its Alta Stand-Alone ACDF system for a less invasive approach to fusion. The system is a stand-alone integrated plate and interbody system…
ulrich medical USA, Inc. is releasing a new spinal implant, called the flamenco Thoracolumbar Rod-Screw System, into the U.S. market. The system is designed to enhance decompression and stabilization of the thoracic and lumbosacral spine when used for fusion surgeries. “This product provides simple, straight-forward instrumentation and maximized tray layout, which helps decrease critical operating…
For patients suffering with vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) which treatment is superior —balloon kyphoplasty or the Kiva VCF Treatment System by Benvenue Medical, Inc.? An independent, peer-reviewed study published online and in the February 15 edition of Spine, found that the Kiva system significantly restored vertebral body wedge deformity and resulted in lower rates of…