Four emerging trends that are changing the spine surgery market

0

Top Four Emerging Trends Impacting the Global Spine Surgery Market (ODT Magazine)
The global spine surgery market is expected to grow at a steady pace over the next three years, driven by factors such as an increasing elderly population and the growing incidence of spinal disorders such as herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, prolapsed intervertebral discs, and spinal stenosis, according to a new report from Technavio.
“Also, the shift in preference among surgeons and patients for minimally invasive (MI) surgery over open or traditional surgery has led to the development of technologically advanced spinal implants. Also, the increasing number of clinical trials of new technology implants is driving market growth,” says Barath Palada, lead analyst at Technavio for life science research tools research.
The top four emerging trends influencing the global spine surgery market according to Technavio’s healthcare and life sciences research analysts are:

Increased Use of Surface-Modified Titanium in Spinal Implants – The use of titanium to manufacture spinal implants has increased in recent years. Spinal implants such as cages, rods, screws, hooks, wires, plates, and bolts are being manufactured with titanium in preference to stainless steel. These implants are strong, light in weight, and allow for better CT and MRI imaging after implantation as they cause minimum interference. In addition, titanium implants maintain a porous structure on their inner surfaces, thereby promoting their integration with bone for enhanced fusion. Also, retro-serrated teething on the caudal and cranial surfaces of the implant provides effective primary stability. These benefits are leading to the growing use of titanium in spinal implants, which in turn, will propel market growth.
Rise in Volume of Spinal Non-Fusion Procedures – A growing number of spinal non-fusion procedures are being performed due to the beneficial outcomes for patients. Non-fusion procedures help preserve both the mobility and stability of spine as well as alleviate severe back and leg pain. Since these procedures alleviate pain and restore motion even while enduring heavy loads, they are considered to offer clinical benefits over fusion procedures. New devices for spinal non-fusion have also been introduced, including devices for artificial disc replacement, dynamic stabilization, and interspinous process decompression. The rise in the volume of spinal non-fusion procedures is expected to fuel market growth over the forecast period.
Rise in Popularity of Physician-Owned ASCs – Many surgeons have started to perform MI surgery in an outpatient setting, especially for bone and spine disorders. Some MI fracture operations and fusion procedures can be performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASCs). Surgeons are already performing lumbar fusion, TLIF, and anterior cervical discectomy procedures regularly in a few ASCs. This trend will continue, and very soon many complicated open surgery procedures will be replaced by MI surgery procedures. These developments will provide an opportunity for surgeons to invest in setting up their own ASCs to perform various MI surgical procedures in an outpatient setting, which will boost the growth of the market during the forecast period.
Emergence of MI Sacroiliac Joint Fusion Technique – Sacroiliac joint dysfunction is responsible for 25 percent of lower back pain cases across the world. The MI sacroiliac joint fusion technique has gained popularity over the traditional open surgical technique for the treatment of sacroiliac joint dysfunction. The technique offers advantages such as short operating time, minimal blood loss, and reduced period of immobilization, as well as preservation of bone and ligament. “The MI sacroiliac joint fusion technique is one of the emerging trends in the market that will generate revenue for vendors during the forecast period,” added Barath. Some of the top vendors in the global spine surgery market, as researched by Technavio analysts are Medtronic plc, DePuy Synthes, Stryker Corporation, NuVasive Inc., and Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company that develops more than 2,000 pieces of research annually covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries.

Read More

Startup in Wyoming has developed an innovative bone drill

0

Bone drill developer wins hard science incubator award (Wyoming Business Report)
The Wyoming company behind the invention of a high tech orthopedic drill is the recipient of an international business startup award.
Casper-based McGinley Orthopedics recently was named the 2016 Hard Science Incubator Client of the Year by the International Business Innovation Association (IBIA). Headquartered in the Casper location of the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Technology Business Center, McGinley became that incubator’s first client back in 2013.

Dr. Joseph McGinley demonstrates his invention at his company’s home in the Wyoming Technology Business Center in Casper recently.

Dr. Joseph McGinley, a diagnostic radiologist practicing in Casper, invented the IntelliSense orthopedic drill, which earned FDA approval in February 2015. When used in orthopedic procedures, the drill features an auto-stop set up on the far side of a bone a surgeon is drilling into, which — combined with an automatic depth measurement feature — keeps the drill from penetrating all the way through the bone and possibly damaging muscle or other tissue on the other side. The necessary screw size is also provided to the surgeon, while the drill’s In-Sight surgical lighting system illuminates the entire surgical field during a procedure.
The Casper Area Economic Development Alliance led the effort to build an addition onto and remodel the former Amoco Production administrative building, which now houses the Casper WTBC. The university oversees the site as part of its system of incubators, which also includes ones in Laramie and Sheridan, and its business development program focuses on nurturing early-stage, technology-based companies, with an emphasis on high-growth firms.
McGinley Orthopedics has 11 employees working at the incubator, including a full engineering staff. A sister company, McGinley Manufacturing, is a custom machine and fabrication shop that operates three shifts each work day at its plant in Glenrock, where 21 machinists and other technical staff make most of the parts that go into the IntelliSense drill. The device is being used at many hospitals around the country, including Shriner’s hospitals, the Stanford University Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic. Closer to home, the Wyoming Medical Center is also using the drill.
The IBIA is the leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship around the globe. It helps communities enable entrepreneurs who are looking to make their dreams into innovative businesses. Judges in the competition look for companies that have “developed a particularly effective innovation and have accomplished their mission.”

Read More

LDR Spine: Mobi-C cervical total disc replacement beats fusion at 5 years

0

LDR: GOOD NEWS AT FIVE YEARS (Orthopedics This Week)
LDR Holding Corporation has announced the publication of “Prospective, Randomized Comparison of One-level Mobi-C Cervical Total Disc Replacement vs. Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: Results at 5-year Follow-up” in the International Journal of Spine Surgery.
As indicated in the March 08, 2016 news release, the researchers found that, “five-year results demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Total Disc Replacement (TDR) with the Mobi-C as a viable alternative to Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF),” and also notes that “in comparison to ACDF, the TDR group preserved motion and patients exhibited lower rates of adjacent segment degeneration through 60 months. Also, a significantly lower rate of subsequent surgeries was seen in the TDR group, indicating an additional benefit of this treatment option.”
LDR President and CEO Christophe Lavigne commented, “LDR is very pleased to see additional five-year follow-up data being published. This paper in particular, as the first review of the composite overall success for one-level Mobi-C at five years, represents the kind of peer-reviewed publication of long-term Level I data that, we believe, payers have viewed as a significant milestone and threshold that supports a positive coverage decision for treatment. The data is also encouraging to surgeons and patients looking to cervical TDR as a new standard of care for treating symptomatic degenerative disc disease with radiculopathy or myeloradiculopathy.”
Michael S. Hisey, M.D., an orthopedic spine surgeon at Texas Back Institute, was lead author on this paper. Dr. Hisey commented to OTW, “It was interesting to find out that, after reviewing some of the best fusion data ever gathered, that the operation that we had thought of as very good and as the gold standard had left room for improvement. For example, the re-operation rate and adverse event rates were less in the artificial disc group than in the fusion group. It is gratifying to know that I have an operation to offer my patients with cervical disc disease that has been shown to have better results by many measures and should cause fewer issues with their adjacent, asymptomatic discs.”
“When we began the Mobi-C project, it was with the hope that we could decrease the adjacent segment degeneration when compared to what happens when a fusion is used. When we were able to demonstrate this at two years and see that the differences increase at five years, it gave us an alternative to fusion that created fewer problems with the patients’ adjacent discs. The promise, then, is fewer surgeries down the road for progression of the patient’s disease and savings of health care dollars.”
Senior Manager Renee Day told OTW, “LDR will capitalize on the 2015 success of Mobi-C with continued focus on surgeon education and long-term clinical evidence. As of the end of 2015, over 2,200 surgeons have been trained on Mobi-C since U.S. launch. LDR will continue to invest in surgeon education in 2016 to support Mobi-C and our other exclusive technology products. Additionally, LDR believes the growing weight of long-term clinical evidence, combined with the published cost-effectiveness data, and NASS [North American Spine Society] coverage recommendation in support of one and two-level disc replacement will drive penetration of cervical disc replacement into the estimated $1.2 billion U.S. cervical fusion market.”

Read More

Surgeons regrow severed ACLs without using grafts

0

Doctors Experiment With New Way of Fixing the A.C.L. (NY Times by CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS)
Anterior cruciate ligaments often tear on the sports field, and after a complete rupture, they are notoriously hard to get to heal.
On Wednesday, doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital announced that they have succeeded in reconnecting A.C.L.s in 10 patients using a novel technique.
Their preliminary results at three months suggest that healing an original A.C.L. without the usual grafts may be a viable option in the future.
Experts were intrigued but cautious.
“This is definitely an advance,” said Dr. Jo Hannafin, a senior attending orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, who was not involved in the experiment.
But, she added, “I don’t think we will know for three to five years whether this technique is really effective or not.”
Each year, roughly 200,000 people injure the A.C.L., which runs diagonally through the middle of the knee and provides stability.
In a standard surgical treatment — performed 100,000 times a year — the ligament is reconstructed with a graft from the patient’s hamstring or patella.
In a preliminary study to assess safety, Dr. Martha Murray and her team at Boston Children’s Hospital performed standard reconstructions on 10 patients with A.C.L. tears and the experimental procedure, called bridge-enhanced A.C.L. repair, on 10 others.
In the experimental technique, the surgeons placed a blood-soaked sponge between the ligament’s severed ends; the sponge acted as a bridge, helping the ligament grow back together over the next six to eight weeks.
It was the first time the technique had been tried in humans.
No participants in either group had ligaments that failed to reconnect, got an infection or had stiff knees.
Only the first patient — Corey Peak, 26 — has passed the one-year mark since the experimental procedure. The other patients had it done a roughly six months.
Three months after the operation, Mr. Peak, a doctoral candidate at Harvard School of Public Health, was back to running on the treadmill. This spring he will play ultimate Frisbee and soccer.
“The real beauty of it is you are getting the native A.C.L. to heal without having a graft,” said Dr. Rick Wright, professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who was not involved in the experimental treatment.
Over time, surgeons hope a healed original ligament may perform better than a grafted one. And if the A.C.L. could be saved, they could avoid harvesting a tendon from the hamstring.
However, repaired A.C.L.s have failed in the past. In the 1980’s, surgeons tried stitching torn A.C.L.s back together. The initial results were good, but five years later, less than half of those knees remained stable, Dr. Hannafin said.
Soon, Dr. Murray of Boston Children’s Hospital plans to start enrolling participants for a randomized trial that will compare the experimental surgery to the standard reconstruction.

Read More

ArthroMeda pulls in $2M for hip replacement sensors

0

ArthroMeda gets $2M for hip replacement sensors (MedCityNews)
In order for arthroplasty surgery to restore proper joint function, surgeons must carefully align orthopedic implants. A Massachusetts startup is developing a simple sensor system that’s meant to improve the precision and efficacy of these arthroplasty surgeries.
ArthroMeda just raised $1.9 million, according to a regulatory filing, from four investors. This is its third fundraise – having brought in $1.6 million in 2014 and$695,000 in 2013.
Arthromeda uses micro-sensors to wirelessly connect to a software system that’ll help surgeons navigate the implantation process onscreen. Its digital templating software, called ArthroPlan, is meant to be a cost-effective tool that’s meant to be compatible with standard work stations, PCs and laptops.
The sensors are meant for hip replacements and other forms of orthopedic implantation surgery. In particular, it’s focusing on the total hip arthroplasty market – a sector which is projected to expand dramatically. There were 350,000 hip replacements in 2007; that’s expected to double by 2030, ArthroMed said. It’s also developing this technology for knee replacements.
Its process was rationalized in a 2013 press release by cofounder Mehran Aghazadeh:
THA was performed in 1960 for the first time. Although there have been numerous improvements in different aspects of this operation, from exposure and techniques to design and technology, most recent studies have shown that even highly experienced physicians still have difficulty positioning implants in proper angles. Using anatomical landmarks for this purpose is not sufficient, as they vary from patient to patient. There is a real need for a cost effective product and method for more accurate positioning of the implants in THA. We want to help surgeons be absolutely confident that they got the implant positioning right real-time.

Read More

Technology, Startup News, Career Advice & More

Archives

Pin It on Pinterest

Menu