Old Technology Metal-Poly Hips Perform as Well as New Metal-Metal and Ceramic-Ceramic Hips

New Hip Implants Work No Better than Old Style (MedPage Today) Newer metal-on-metal or ceramic-on-ceramic hip implants work no better than traditional polyethylene-containing implants, researchers concluded from a systematic review. Although there are limited comparative effectiveness data, there was no evidence that the newer implant types improved functioning and quality of life or reduced [...]

Researches Use 3-D Printer That Can Make Bone-Like Material

3-D Printer Used to Make Bone-Like Material (Science Daily) It looks like bone. It feels like bone. For the most part, it acts like bone. And it came off an inkjet printer. Washington State University researchers have used a 3-D printer to create a bone-like material and structure that can be used in orthopedic [...]

IlluminOss Medical, an Intramedullary Fixation Trauma Startup, Finds $4M Financing

IlluminOss Medical finds $4M financing (Mass High Tech) IlluminOss Medical Inc., a medical device firm in East Providence, R.I., has taken in a $4 million debt financing round, the company noted in aregulatory filing. The financing consists of debt, as well as options and warrants. Reached by phone, company president and CEO Scott [...]

NASS Presentations: Biological Products Show Promise, but More Evidence Is Needed

Biological Products Show Promise, but More Evidence Is Needed (NASS) The use of biological products in spine treatments is increasing, but more reliable data about their use are needed, according to a series of presentations during the NASS Annual Meeting’s final session, Biologics: A Critical Review of the Evidence. During the November 5 symposium, six [...]

Research in Orthopedics: Managing Conflicts of Interest to Maintain Objectivity and Integrity of Results

Research in Orthopedics: Managing Conflicts of Interest to Maintain Objectivity and Integrity of Results (Laura Miller @ Beckers) Chapters are: Introduction Recognizing conflicts of interest What orthopedic research stands to lose Why research is important Maintaining integrity in the peer-review process Read entire article at Beckers

10 Spine and Neurosurgeons on the Move

10 Spine and Neurosurgeons on the Move (Laura Miller @ Beckers) Here are 10 spine and neurosurgeons who have joined new practices or been promoted to new positions within the past few months. James Osborn, MD Garrick Carson, MD Tan Duy Ly, DO Joshua Ellwitz, MD George D. Picetti, III, MD Sergio Rivero, MD [...]

Flexuspine, Startup With Disc Replacement, Gets $2.1M in Funding

Flexuspine website Spine disc replacement firm Flexuspine adds $2.1M to series B round (MedCityNews) Flexuspine, which is developing a total spine disc replacement system, has added $2.1 million to a larger series B round of investment funding. CEO Vin Jannetty declined to reveal any more information about the Pittsburgh-based company’s past, present or future fundraising, but [...]

ArthroCare to Settle Class Action Suits for $74M

ArthroCare To Settle Class Action Suits For $74 Mln, Stock Up (Nasdaq) (RTTNews) – ArthroCare Corp. (ARTC) Monday said it reached an agreement in principle to settle the private securities class action suits pending against the company and two of its former officers for $74 million. In early morning trade, shares of ArthroCare gapped [...]

UK Clinical Trial Set to Begin With a Stem Cell “Bandage” Meniscus Repair

Stem Cell “Bandage” Meniscus Trial Set (Biloine Young @ OTW) A British company, the developer of what it calls a “stem cell bandage” which is designed to heal torn meniscal cartilage, is subjecting its technology to a human clinical trial. The trial, believed to be the first of its kind in the world, is [...]

Forget the US… VCs Sending Their Medtech Startups to Europe First

VC are looking across the pond (Richard Nass @ MDDI) I wrote a blog recently for our sister site, EMDT, where I discussed how many OEMs are going to Europe to design, test, and even sell their medical devices because the investment required to do so is far less than what’s required in the U.S. In [...]

FDA Is Suffocating the Small Businesses It Should Be Helping

FDA Is Suffocating the Small Businesses It Should Be Helping (Jim Dickinson @ MDDI) Some companies can’t afford CDRH’s inconsistent and capricious approach. For as long as I can remember, CDRH has done a poor job of helping small businesses work through the choking thicket of agency regulations. Despite statutory directives to do [...]

Generics Are Coming! Generics Are Coming!

Generics are Coming! Generics are Coming! (written by Dr. Blair Rhode for ORTHOPRENEUR ) Blair Rhode, M.D. is a sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon who saw an opportunity and a need for generic-based implants. He started RoG Sports Medicine (www.buyrog.com) in 2010 as an EcoOrtho® company. Dr. Rhodes 4-part article: Why Implant Costs have Stayed High Generics—It’s [...]

The Future of Medical Devices Is Generic

The Future of Devices is Generic (Laura Ruth, Ph.D. is a director with Fuld & Co.’s Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Practice) What if a significant portion of a $200 million segment of the medical device market was generic? A company called Generic Medical Device (GMD) launched a Universal Sling System for female stress urinary incontinence (SUI), a class [...]

Can the iPad Make Your Sales Force More Effective?

IPads Are Latest Weapon in Medical Sales (by Jon Kamp & Roger Cheng @ Wall Street Journal) Medical-sector companies are passing out thousands of iPad tablet computers to salespeople to spruce up their pitch to doctors, and at the same time giving Apple Inc. a crucial foot in the door to business customers. Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp. are [...]

32 Startups Were Funded in Orthopedics in 2009 – Where Are They Now?

List of 32 fundings in 2009 Dec 2009 AxioMed Spine Corp (Garfield Heights, OH) completed the first part of its third financing round, raising $6.4M from ”leading venture capital firms,” which were not named. The company that is developing next-generation spinal disc replacements is working toward a Series C round of $18.5M http://ow.ly/I1oY

Yale Review of Infuse Study to Begin – “Does Infuse Work? and Is Infuse Safe?”

Did Medtronic Sell and Unsafe Product? (Star Tribune – Business) Krumholz Begins Infuse Study (Bilione Young @ OTW) A doctor who Forbes Magazine called “the most powerful doctor you never heard of” is the one hired by Medtronic, Inc. to evaluate and render a verdict on its product Infuse. In their examination and study [...]

Spine 510(k) Clearances in October = 21

21 Spine Devices Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance in October (Laura Miller @ Beckers) The Food and Drug Administration granted 21 spine-related 510(k) medical device clearances in October, according to an FDA report. Here are the first 10. Sovereign Spinal System from Medtronic. Zimmer Periarticular Screws from Zimmer. Range Spinal System (Mesa and Denali) from K2M. Concorde Bullet Spinal System [...]

5 Spine Company Leaders Participate in Q&a Regarding the Future of Spine

Success in the Spine Market: 5 Spine Company Leaders Discuss the Future (written by Laura Miller @ Beckers) Several medical device companies gathered at the North American Spine Society (NASS) annual conference this past month to display new innovations for a variety of spinal procedures. Even through tough economic times, companies displayed an impressive array [...]

Who Is Reinhold Schmielding? …and How Did He Grow Arthrex Into a Highly Successful Sports Medicine Company?

Enterpreneur of the Year: REINHOLD SCHMIEDING (by Jean Gruss| Lee/Collier Editor) Who is Reinhold Schmieding? Few people have heard of Reinhold Schmieding, but the reclusive Naples entrepreneur has quietly built one of the world’s leading medical-device manufacturing companies. When Reinhold Schmieding pulled into Naples on a steamy August day in 1991, all [...]

Large Diameter Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacements Yield High Failure Rate, Corrosion

Large diameter metal-on-metal hip replacements yield high failure rate, corrosion (OrthoSuperSite) One recent investigation from U.K. researchers has found an “unacceptable” high rate of failure among large diameter, hybrid metal-on-metal hip replacements studied, according to results presented at the British Orthopaedic Association and Irish Orthopaedic Association Combined Meeting 2011 in Dublin. According to study author Ben JRF [...]

The Rise of Reverse Total Shoulder Surgery

The Rise of Reverse Total Shoulder Surgery (Biloine Young @ OTW) If the patient is over 70, has arthritis and tears his rotator cuff, the best solution may be Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement surgery. “The Reverse Total Shoulder is the newest and most dynamic advance in shoulder replacement surgery in the last [...]

Knee Osteoarthritis Patient Numbers Are Soaring

Knee OA Patient Numbers to Soar (Biloine Young @ OTW) If current trends continue, nearly 6.5 million Americans between the ages of 35 and 84 will be diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis (OA) within the next ten years according to research presented at the November 2011 American College of Rheumatology meeting in Chicago and [...]

GOP Senators Grill FDA Devices Chief Jeff Shuren on Review Times

GOP senators grill FDA devices chief Shuren | FDA Roundup (MassDevice) Republican senators grill FDA medical device chief Dr. Jeffrey Shuren on review times during a Senate committee hearing, the FDA seeks comment on recall process and Edaptive wins $40M FDA contract. FDA Center for Devices & Radiological Health chief Dr. Jeffrey Shuren [...]

ExtraOrtho, a Memphis-Based External Fixation Startup, Is Acquired by Zimmer

ExtraOrtho website Funding in 2009 Zimmer press release Memphis-based ExtraOrtho is acquired by Zimmer Holdings of Warsaw, Indiana (Memphis Commercial Appeal) Memphis-based ExtraOrtho, a medical device company that received funding from Innova and TNInvestco, has been acquired by Zimmer Holdings, company officials have announced. The deal includes ExtraOrtho’s external fixation line, [...]

Did Medtronic Sell an Unsafe Product?

Did Medtronic sell an unsafe product? (Star Tribune – Business) Under fire, the company looks to a top researcher to answer questions about its big seller Infuse. For Dr. Harlan Krumholz, numbers tell stories. The pioneering Yale University cardiologist’s medical sleuthing — called “outcomes research” — involves studying how sick people [...]

Knee Hospitalization Rates Soar

Knee Hospitalization Rates Soar (Bilione Young @ OTW) Women and men between the ages of 45 and 64 were two-and-a-half times more likely to be hospitalized for knee replacement surgery in 2009 than they were in 1997, according to a November Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) press release, and reported by Health [...]

Hip Impingement Surgery Is Becoming More and More Popular in Sports Medicine

Hip Procedure Grows Popular Despite Doubt (NYTimes) It is one of the most popular operations in sports medicine. It comes in various forms, all with the same name: Hip impingement or bone shaving surgery. World-renowned athletes have had the operation — the Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez had it about two years ago and [...]

TranS1 Launches Minimally Invasive Lateral Access Fusion System

TranS1 Inc. Announces Launch of Minimally Invasive Lateral Access Fusion System (press release) TranS1 Inc. (Nasdaq:TSON), a pioneer in minimally invasive approaches to lumbar spine surgery, today announced the launch of its new lateral access fusion system for interbody fusions. TranS1′s minimally invasive lateral system features an innovative, two-stage retraction method that focuses on nerve [...]

Smith & Nephew Increasing R&D Budget by $300M to Focus on BRIC Markets

Smith & Nephew saves research spend for emerging markets (The Telegraph) Smith & Nephew, the maker of artifical hips and knees, is to ring-fence a slice of its research spending to develop products for emerging markets as it eyes sales in fast-growing economies. The FTSE 100 medical devices manufacturer has said [...]

Stryker Layoffs Strike Chords of Political and Economic Concerns in Michigan

Stryker Corp. layoff plans strike chords of political and economic concern (Kalamazoo Gazette) KALAMAZOO — Stryker Corp.‘s plans to layoff about 5 percent of its worldwide staff to cut costs — a move announced by the medical products company last Thursday — have some worried about the spin-off effect it may have in the community. It [...]

Stryker Sues DePuy, Wright and Zimmer Over Hip Implant Patent

Stryker sues DePuy, Wright and Zimmer over hip implant patent (MassDevice) Stryker Corp. files a trio of lawsuits against rivals DePuy Orthopaedics, Wright Medical and Zimmer Holdings, accusing them of trespassing on its patent for a hip implant component. Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) sued a trio of rivals last week, alleging that they infringe one [...]

Orthopedic Device Makers Take a Step Back – Competitive Advantages Appear to Be Weakening

Orthopedic Device Makers Take a Step Back (Morningstar) Competitive advantages appear to be weakening. Orthopedic industry moat trends are declining as a result of increasing regulatory and reimbursement pressures, and ongoing economic uncertainty caused recent cuts to our fair value estimates.As a result of increasing regulatory and reimbursement pressures, more supplier switching could be [...]

Today’s Primary UniCompartmental Knee Replacement May Become Tomorrow’s Complicated Revision

Today’s primary UKR may become tomorrow’s complicated revision (OrthoSuperSite) PRAGUE — Researchers at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital discovered in their recent analysis of register-based unicompartmental and total knee arthroplasty revision cases that the procedures were more complicated than primary cases due to increases in bone loss and use of constrained prostheses. Using polyethylene bearing thickness as a [...]

Baby Boomers Are Coming: 8 Solutions to Looming Challenges for Orthopedic Surgeons

Baby Boomers are Coming: 8 Solutions to Looming Challenges for Orthopedic Surgeons (written by Laura Miller @ Beckers) Here are eight challenges associated with providing orthopedic care for baby boomers and how orthopedic surgeons and industry professionals are overcoming them. 1. Competing for patients: focus on customer service. 2. Decreasing reimbursement rates: limit [...]

Orthopedic and Spine 510(k) Clearances in October = 43

43 Orthopedic and Spine Devices Receive FDA 510(k) Clearance in October (written by Laura Miller @ Beckers) The Food and Drug Administration granted 43 orthopedic- and spine-related devices 510(k) clearance in October, according to an FDA report. Reverse Shoulder Prosthesis MonoBlock Hemi Adapter from Encore Medical. Sovereign Spinal System from Medtronic. Zimmer Periarticular Screws from Zimmer. Exeter X3 [...]

Stryker Plans to Lay Off 5% of Its Workforce Ahead of the Med-Tech Tax

Stryker plans to lay off 5% of its workforce ahead of the med-tech tax Stryker Corp. announces plans to lay off 5 percent of its workforce, reducing operating cost by more than $100 million before the 2.3 percent med-tech levy takes effect in 2013 Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) officials said the company [...]

Knee Arthritis Is Striking at Younger and Younger Ages

Knee arthritis striking at younger ages (Chicago Sun-Times) Arthritis of the knee is striking Americans at younger ages, new research has found, but shedding a few pounds if you’re overweight might reduce your risk. The studies were presented over the weekend in Chicago at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting. Nearly 6.5 million Americans [...]

Researchers Solve the Problem of Sterile Handling of Autologous Stem Cells

Stem Cells Grow in Plastic Bags (Bilione Young @ OTW) Researchers working in Germany have come up with a solution to a perplexing stem cell problem—how to keep the cell mixtures from becoming contaminated. While doctors have been increasingly using live cells in their treatments of patients—those cells have to be kept, cultivated, reproduced or even [...]

Thoracic Spine Surgery: A New Technique to Avoid Operating on the Wrong Level

Thoracic Spine Surgery: A New Technique to Avoid Operating on the Wrong Level (American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)) It does not happen often, but nearly 50 percent of spine surgeons perform surgery on the wrong level of the spine sometime during their career. This is not surprising: a variety of factors make it difficult [...]

OrthoData, Spine Fusion Startup, Plans to Move From Louisville to Cleveland

OrthoData raises $1.1 M round for spinal fusion monitor (July 2008) Spine fusion device startup eyes Cleveland move, more funding (Brandon Glenn @ MedCityNews) A Louisville company that’s developing a medical device to help surgeons monitor the progress of spinal fusion surgeries is a eyeing a relocation to the Cleveland area. OrthoData is hoping to attract some [...]

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February 22, 2012

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