Aesculap Releases Knee Implant System

Aesculap Implant Systems LLC, the Center Valley, Pa.-based orthopedic unit of German medical device company B. Braun, has released its new Vega System posterior stabilized knee replacement technology. The Vega Syetem design is based on a post-controlled ankle movement (CAM) mechanism that is designed to recreate a natural pivotal motion while greatly reducing surface stress. The original mechanism currently is awaiting patent.

The Vega system is designed to mimic natural knee movement by providing a physiological pivot around the medial condyle, one of the two projections on the lower extremity of the femur bone. With the post-CAM design, Vega is hoped to facilitate a large range of motion in the knee joint with ideal surface contact between the femoral component and gliding surfaces of the device.

“The breakthrough design concepts found in the Vega System knee replacement allows the patient to regain their natural motion,” said William Mihalko, M.D., Ph.D., professor and J.R. Hyde chair and director of biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee Campbell Clinic Department of Orthopaedics and Biomedical Engineering, “while the intuitive and quick instrumentation leads you through a logical step-wise progression during surgery, reducing steps in the operating room for optimum outcomes.”

Mihalko led the knee implant design team along with K.J. Saleh, M.D., professor and chair of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

The design team targeted wear, it being the number one cause of knee implant failures. The Vega System is coated with seven layers of alternative surface (AS) coating, reducing implant wear by an alleged 60 percent. The ceramic coating of the AS implants is applied by a vacuum deposition process, and the elements of the coating are vaporized in the coating process. The hard zirconium nitride ceramic surface can lead to improved scratch resistance and good wettability for better articulation between bearing surfaces, claims Aesculap.

Aesculap Implant Systems provides products and technology for the spine and orthopedic markets.

B. Braun is a manufacturer of infusion therapy and pain management products.