Titan Spine's new medical devices could set it apart (Journal Centinel)
The day after his first call to Barbara Boyan, Kevin Gemas was on a plane to meet her in Atlanta.
Gemas’ company, Mequon-based Titan Spine, was selling titanium medical devices used in back surgery to shore up injured or deteriorating vertebrae.
The devices seemed to work better than the plastic materials that were commonly used for spinal fusions at the time, but Gemas and his Titan Spine co-founder, Neenah spine surgeon Peter Ullrich Jr., didn’t know why.
Boyan did. A cell biologist at Emory University, she had spent decades studying how bones heal.
“There is more here than meets the eye, and more than you guys probably realize,” she said at the time, according to Gemas.
The result of that 2009 meeting was the development of a second generation of devices with a more precisely roughened surface that resembles that of bone and that theoretically triggers the cellular reaction needed to encourage beneficial bone growth.
For people with debilitating back pain, this may lead to reduced inflammation, quicker healing and better outcomes.
Following Gemas' meeting with Boyan, Titan Spine developed a manufacturing pro...
