He was there when spine was young…and those at Custom Spine will now benefit from what David Brumfield has seen over his 31 years in the field. The company has recently announced that David Brumfield has joined the Custom Spine team as Senior Vice President of Research and Development.
Brumfield told OTW,
I’m very happy to be partnering with the experienced professionals at Custom Spine, who have built a solid foundation of innovative products and superior service for spine surgeons and the patients they serve.
Brumfield, who holds 33 U.S. patents and is well-published in the orthopedic field, began his biomedical engineering career at Richards Manufacturing Company in Memphis in 1979. For 12 years, he moved “up the ladder” and was there as the company became Smith & Nephew, Inc. During his time at that company he made significant contributions to novel orthopedic trauma products, including cephalomedullary nails.
In 1991, Brumfield joined Danek Medical and was ultimately named Vice President of Product Development as the company became Medtronic Sofamor Danek. During his 15 year tenure, he helped pioneer the use of titanium in spinal implants as well as minimally invasive surgical instrumentation.
Returning to Smith & Nephew in 2006, Brumfield headed the company’s R&D for its trauma division and for four years led that team in several novel developments, including a unique electromagnetic method for distal targeting of intramedullary nails and new biomaterial technologies for the treatment of difficult fractures.
“David is a great addition to the Custom Spine team. We are thrilled to have his depth of knowledge and experience in developing novel orthopedic and spine products. As head of our Research and Development team, David will further propel the company’s initiative of providing a full line of advanced spinal products, ” commented Custom Spine President Lew Bennett, in the news release.
Brumfield told OTW,
I look forward to understanding the current challenges faced by spine surgeons in the treatment of spinal disorders and meeting those challenges with the balanced employment of creative design, proven biomechanical principles, and new technologies.
Concerning his experience, Brumfield commented to OTW,
My participation in the relatively earlier years of research and development in spinal instrumentation and my continued role in evaluating new designs and technologies for both spine and trauma devices in more recent years will help me to match surgeon and patient needs with technical solutions in the future.
