Surgical implant maker Xenco Medical continues to flex is innovation muscles, most recently with the launch of an injection-molded titanium foam implant that comes pre-attached to a disposable delivery device.

“Optimized for energy absorption and bone in-growth, the interconnected network of pores that permeate each CancelleX porous titanium implant serve to achieve bone-like mechanical properties,” said Xenco Medical Founder and CEO Jason Haider (pictured above).

The San Diego, CA-based company said its CancelleX lumbar interbodies, inspired by cancellous bone, feature interconnected porosity throughout each implant and break new ground in the application of injection molding to the manufacturing of titanium spinal implants. Designed to promote bone apposition and facilitate vascularization, the titanium foam implant features high compressive strength, the company noted. Xenco also said that CancelleX is the first titanium foam implant of its kind to come pre-attached to a disposable, composite polymer delivery instrument (pictured below).

Image courtesy of Xenco Medical

Xenco touted the device's "remarkable strength to weight ratio, excellent biocompatibility, and the ability to produce capillary action throughout its structure," and said the titanium foam implant was developed by leveraging advanced manufacturing technology. The company also said the delivery instruments attached to each titanium foam implant are optimally calibrated and sterile-packaged for patient-specific use.

Not Your Father's Spinal Implant Company

Xenco Medical distinguished itself a few years ago by packaging surgical instruments and spinal implants together according to size and procedure in sterile, single-use systems. Later Xenco introduced a smartphone app for surgeons to use to order kits for upcoming procedures. But the company really made a name for itself last year by launching an interactive vending machine for dispensing those sterile-packaged systems (pictured below).

“It’s been important to not only develop new implant systems but to construct a new framework for delivery,” Haider previously told MD+DI. “I wanted to develop an automated dispensing solution around our sterile systems from the beginning but waited until we had several years’ worth of feedback from both surgeons and hospital administrators from around the country. My concept of a surgical vending machine itself was born by observing novel applications of automation over time, with automated vending kiosks in airports serving as an early example. Through an iterative process, Xenco Medical’s interactive vending machine reflects a multitude of inputs from across the country, which ranged from a need for secure access and traceability to on-demand training for hospital staff.”

In 2018 Haider told MD+DI's sister publication, Packaging Digest, that he started the company to address what he called an “antiquated medical device supply chain,” and he estimated that sterilizing and transporting such reusables after each operation requires a minimum of 3.5 hours to complete.

“With the sterilization costs alone approaching $1000 for each surgery, the lost surgical time due to the unavailability of instrument and implant sets is particularly costly to small facilities with limited resources and patient volumes such as outpatient surgery centers,” he said.

With Xenco’s solution, Haider said, disposing of the single-use surgical instruments could range “from 9 cents to 71 cents, and the savings from sterilization alone averages from $850 to $950 dollars per case."

From：MDDI