Mitek Sports Medicine Introduces Two New Products

Mitek Sports Medicine, a Raynham, Mass.-based orthopedics sports medicine technology company, has released two new products this month: the Healix 3.4 mm suture anchor, Mitek’s smallest dual-thread suture anchor for rotator cuff repair; and the Healix Transtend implant system, a new double-loaded, minimally invasive, partial thickness rotator cuff (PTRC) repair system.

The Healix 3.4 mm suture anchor is about 38 percent smaller than conventional suture anchors, claims Mitek, and its dual-thread technology is designed to engage both cortical and cancellous bone for optimal strength.

The anchor implants are double loaded with Mitek’s Orthocord high-strength suture and are available in Biocryl Rapide (BR) biocomposite material or radiolucent polyetheretherketone (PEEK). BR is a biocomposite made up of 30 percent tricalcium phosphate and 70 percent of the faster resorbing polymer, polylactic-co-glycolic acid.

“The Healix 3.4 mm anchor offers me the versatility of BR and PEEK options, and its small diameter enables more precise placement, and occupies less of the footprint than larger suture anchors,” said Amir Moinfar, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Maryland. “However, despite its small size, the Healix 3.4mm anchor has the pullout characteristics needed for medial row fixation, and the double-loaded Orthocord gives me the opportunity for a variety of spanning options for incorporating lateral fixation.”

The Healix Transtend implant system is designed to repair PTRCs with minimal trauma to the surrounding intact tissue, according to the company. It is implanted percutaneously, so is minimally invasive. The Percannula system is intended to work with the Transtend brand of anchors to maximize procedural visualization and preserve the patient’s natural anatomy. The system features a dual-thread pattern, is available in BR, PEEK, and titanium, and is preloaded with one or two strands of Orthocord high strength suture.

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, in 2008, about two million people in the United States visited their doctors because of a rotator cuff problem.

DePuy Synthes Mitek Sports Medicine is part of the DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson.