ODT’s Most-Read Stories This Week—Dec. 11

Precice, 3D printing, and pediatrics. Those were the subjects that most enticed visitors to the ODT website this past week. 

Drawing the most readers was NuVasive Inc.’s latest developments with its Precice limb-lengthening devices, which have been monitored by the U.S. Food and Drug administration for possible biocompatibility issues. The company released a field safety notice on Nov. 30 indicating updated labeling and the lifting of a U.S. shipping hold for the titanium- and steel-based devices. NuVasive also issued a recall to inform users of the updated labeling for Precice Freedom, Intra-medullary Limb Lengthening Device, Short, and Unyte products. 

Website visitors also gravited to Q&As with experts in 3D printing and pediatric implants. Peter Halverson, principle engineer at Draper, Utah-based Nexus Spine, discussed the unique geometries that can be created through additive manufacturing, while Paul Gonsalves, president of Global Orthopedics at Orthofix, detailed the challenges stymying the pediatric orthopedic device market—namely, design variations, ROI, and the biological complexities of kids’ bones. “…there is a tendency to adapt a patient to the device instead of the other way around,” he told Orthopedic Design & Technology.


1. Ship Hold Lifted for NuVasive’s Titanium-Based Precice Devices


2. Additive Manufacturing Thrives With Fresh Ideas


3. Promising Pediatric Implant Market is Hampered by Biologic Complexities


4. FDA Clears ARVIS Augmented Reality System


5. Medtech Spinout Behind New Material for 3D Printed Implants Raises £1.6M