Getting a Glance at Innovative Technology…Again

The return of live events has been a welcome occurrence for many. As Dawn Lissy proclaims in her Best Practices column, we’re sick of being sick!
 
For me, live events means a return to catching up with friends in the industry, but perhaps more importantly, it results in my introduction to new and exciting companies and technologies. This is, by far, my favorite aspect of attending live events.
 
For orthopedic device technologies, there is really no better setting to discover new innovation than the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting. This year’s event, held in the middle of March, seemed like a fantastic return to a pre-pandemic environment. Plenty of sights to see and some interesting technologies on display.
 
I was fortunate enough to catch up with some who I had met with in the past. Dr. Bill Hunter, founder and CEO of Canary Medical, was gracious enough to make time to bring me up to speed on the company’s partnership with Zimmer Biomet and their Persona IQ offering, a smart implant with diagnostic capabilities. (Get a much more comprehensive overview of this technology in the feature starting on page 72.)
 
I also met with the team at Fundamental Surgery—a company I’ve written about in the past. While virtual reality is offering tremendous benefits for orthopedic device manufacturers as a way to demonstrate new technologies, it also provides opportunities for surgeons to practice procedures or “demo” different devices or surgical approaches without any chance of harming a patient. What separates Fundamental Surgery from the pack, however, is its haptic component. The technology is simply fascinating, whether I’m thinking back to my first experience in performing a spinal procedure on the unit, or this last time at AAOS, using it during a knee replacement. Through the haptic handpieces, I “felt” the patient’s anatomy and the difference in the sensation of “touching” bone versus muscle as I “operated.” Something certainly to be experienced.
 
I was also sure to allow time to gain insights from other companies and their products. One such firm was QMed Innovations and its Quest tracking system. The technology is attached to a standard surgical instrument tray and enables a variety of information to be collected. The autonomous system requires no input from healthcare personnel, eliminating any additional tasks from their routine. The connected system leverages cellular networks to remain in contact. It enables seamless inventory management and helps ensure compliance as it travels with the tray through all processes, including its sterilization cycle.
 
Another “new” organization I met with (new to me, that is, not necessarily to the industry) was OSSIO, which puts forward the tagline “Restore. Regrow. Renew.” In an industry that works primarily with permanent metal solutions, it was an unusual challenge to get my head around what exactly OSSIOfiber was. According to the company, it is “a breakthrough fixation material technology that provides the first credible solution to the shortcomings of permanent metal hardware, conventional resorbable and allograft implants.” Essentially, the material has a similar mineral composition to native bone. As such, following placement, natural bone begins to replace the implant. This can be seen in as little as two weeks, and after approximately two years, the entire implant is replaced by natural bone. Currently, applications are limited but given the final result, I hope additional applications for this unique material are not far behind.
 
I also met with representatives at Anika, a company that’s been in existence for about 30 years. The firm offers a number of technologies, including total shoulder and wrist solutions, and claims a number of other innovations are in its development pipeline. The organization believes in a philosophy of restoring active living; it views itself as a joint preservation company. The product that intrigued me most, however, was its Tactoset Injectable Bone Substitute—an alternative treatment option for chronic bone pain. One cause for this condition can be stress fractures that have not healed on their own. In this situation, Tactoset (a synthetic, biocompatible calcium phosphate and hyaluronic acid-enhanced bone repair therapy) can be injected directly into the cracks in the bone, where it hardens and mimics its properties. As healing occurs, the material is replaced by growth of new, natural bone. According to the company, the material can also be “indicated for the augmentation of hardware, such as soft tissue anchors, and can provide greater than twice the pullout strength of non-augmented anchors.”
 
I look forward to returning to more live events and encourage everyone with interesting innovations to reach out and invite me to come view it for myself…in person…again.