Providence Medical Technology, Inc. has just introduced its Cavux surface technology, an innovation meant to speed bone fusion during the healing process. According to the company’s October 13, 2015 news release the company’s portfolio of DTRAX Cervical Cage implants will be available with Cavux, a unique surface technology that produces micro-textures on titanium surfaces. The micro- and nano-textures created across the implant surface area serve to enhance the fusion process.
“Surfacing technologies have delivered positive clinical results in orthopaedic and dental surgery to-date. Cavux surface technology was developed based on these successful principles, and we believe it has the potential to enhance cervical spine fusion when applied to our DTRAX product portfolio, ” said Providence Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smith. “The addition of this exciting technology represents an important step towards our goal of becoming the most innovative company in cervical fusion.”
Asked about the most interesting part of the development phase, Ed Liou, vice president of Engineering and Operations, told OTW, “Providence favors titanium for its strength, workability, biocompatibility and favorable osseointegration properties. During the development of Cavux it was exciting to find new ways of treating the surface to gain even more favorable tissue-implant interactions. Cavux technology encourages further improved osseointegration rates over an already superb implant material.”
Regarding inquiries they might receive at this week’s meeting of North American Spine Society, Liou commented, “We expect that if we receive questions, they will likely probe to understand the features of the surface technology, rather than the whys. The benefits of surfacing technologies on established implant materials like titanium are relatively well understood within the industry. And there does appear to be a movement to return to the known, positive, long-term clinical outcomes of titanium as an implant material.”
“Our Cavux surfacing technology uses a subtractive process, rather than adding something to the external surface of the device. I think people will immediately recognize that this means no new biocompatibility or flaking concerns common to additive or sprayed-on surface treatments. The Cavux surface has been designed with macro features to aide in implant retention, along with micro- and nano-level features that focus more on protein and cell adhesion to gain quicker healing and fusion.”

