Courtesy of DePuy

DePuy Synthes, an orthopedic and neurosurgery company owned by Johnson & Johnson, recently announced the launch of their new flagship technology, the CONCORDE LIFT Interbody Implant. The new implantable device was designed to help treat patients suffering from degenerative disc disease, a condition that can cause extreme pain from a damaged disc in the spine.

The implantable device was designed as part of a new procedural solution that can simplify minimally invasive spine surgery procedures used to help restore disc height in the spinal column. This is typically done through the process of spinal fusion, a surgical procedure that places bone or bone-like material within the space between two spinal vertebrae. In an effort to simplify the procedure, DePuy created the CONCORDE LIFT implant to provide patients with a device that can specifically fit each patient’s anatomy due to a continuous expansion mechanism.

“To help treat patients suffering from advanced degenerative disc disease, the degenerated disc is first removed, and then the CONCORDE LIFT Expandable Interbody device is inserted and expanded, with the procedural aim of restoring height of the disc space,” said Nadav Tomer, worldwide president of DePuy Synthes. “The device is an expandable titanium cage with instrumentation that delivers control and performance to clinicians through tactile feedback and reliable graft delivery. It is designed with a continuous expansion mechanism, which allows the surgeon to specifically fit the intervertebral cage to the patient’s anatomy, creating a more personalized solution.”

Perhaps the most novel part of the technology comes after the implant is inserted and the surgeon creates the necessary expansion. After implantation, the device can then be backfilled with bone graft to maximize bone graft contact and containment, which will help promote bone growth and increase the chances of successful spinal fusion.

“The key difference compared to the majority of other expandable cages on the market is the fact that the CONCORDE LIFT can be backfilled with bone graft post-expansion,” Tomer said. “One of the key requirements for successful fusion is adequately packing the disc space with bone graft, which promotes adequate bone graft-endplate contact. Even though the disc space is typically pre-filled with bone graft prior to cage expansion, an additional void is created when the cage gets expanded. By using the post expansion backfilling technique, in which the bone graft can be pushed through the inserter into the implant and disc space, this void created by the expansion of the device can be filled to create a more homogenous bone environment for spinal fusion to occur.”

The implant itself is made from a medical grade titanium alloy, one of the most commonly used titanium alloys, and is currently used in a variety of different medical applications. The company recently conducted an anatomic lab study using the device and found that the implant saved significant procedure time during disc removal, cage implantation, and screw placement when compared to a control group of current market product offerings. Tomer believes these results will help pave the way toward more minimally invasive treatments for patients suffering from degenerative disc disease.

“By 2020, it is estimated that half of all spinal fusion procedures will be performed using a minimally invasive approach,” Tomer said. “While it has a steep learning curve, minimally invasive spine surgery has been associated with reducing complications, blood loss, muscular damage, and pain — all with a faster recovery for patients when compared to conventional open spine surgery. With the launch of the CONCORDE LIFT implant, DePuy Synthes is demonstrating our commitment to innovative offerings that reduce surgical complexity, improve patient outcomes, and potentially lower the cost to deliver quality patient care.”