Boston, Massachusetts-based ApiFix Ltd. has announced that its Minimally Invasive Deformity Correction (MID-C) technology has now been used to treat more than 250 young patients diagnosed with progressive scoliosis. Another milestone is that the earliest treated patients have reached their six-year follow-up milestone.
According to the company, “ApiFix’s MID-C technology is a posterior dynamic deformity correction system that enables surgeons to perform a unique treatment providing permanent curve correction while retaining spine flexibility using a least invasive surgical approach.”
“Patient recovery is relatively pain-free and is measured in days, not months. The MID-C system acts as an ‘internal brace’ that incorporates a patented unidirectional, self-adjusting rod mechanism with motion-preserving polyaxial joints allowing additional non-invasive post-operative correction over time and is removable.”
“… A typical ApiFix surgical procedure takes about 90 minutes with minimal blood loss (~50cc) and short hospitalization and recovery times (1-2 days and 1-2 weeks, respectively). In contrast to fusion correction procedures, the MID-C system allows for additional deformity correction with standard post-operative exercises. Patients’ normal daily activities are unencumbered since spine flexibility and mobility are retained.”
“Despite great recent advancements, our options to address progressive curvature in young patients today remain limited,” said Randy Betz, M.D., past president of the Scoliosis Research Society. “Bracing systems are required to be worn many hours per day and do not correct the deformity.”
“Standard spinal fusions correct the deformity but have a much longer recovery time and result in a permanent loss of mobility. The introduction of a procedure that can effectively correct spinal deformity with less invasive, motion-preserving techniques will have a dramatic effect on the quality of life for these patients and their families.”
Paul Mraz, ApiFix CEO, told OTW, “The unique ApiFix approach provides a viable alternative to bracing and spinal fusion for many patients as the least invasive spine deformity correction option. Scoliosis affects 2%-3% of the world’s population—these are the patients—but it also impacts their families and all of the doctors and caregivers they will come to know along the way. So, our work at ApiFix provides us the opportunity to make a significant positive impact on the lives of millions of people around the globe.”
