Start-Up News May 2008

Noteworthy news from medtech start-ups, including Ortho Kinematics, developing a diagnostic for spine function, and Glucotec, which can progam insulin pumps from blood glucose readings and automate insulin delivery.

Spinal fusion procedures are on the rise; surgeons will perform almost 500,000 such surgeries in 2008, and the number will continue to grow in the years to come. (See Exhibit 1.) The large volume of spinal fusions has sparked a debate about whether surgeons are doing too many spine surgeries, a controversy that only exists because of two key issues. First, spinal fusion surgeries have low efficacy rates in terms of ultimately eliminating back pain, with failure rates often reported in the range of 30%. Second, the surgeries aren’t benign; in addition to the usual risks of invasive surgery, fusions of the spine very soon create new problems, namely accelerated degeneration of vertebral discs adjacent to the fused vertebrae, leading to re-operations. What’s needed, believes an up-and-coming generation of spinal diagnostic developers, are tests that will help surgeons determine the source of the back pain so they can treat patients more effectively. The Kyphon Inc. division of Medtronic PLC, for example, is developing a functional discography test to pinpoint an injured disc. (See "Ortho Dx: Where Does It Hurt?," IN VIVO, June 2007 Also see "Ortho Dx: Where Does It Hurt?" - In Vivo, 1 June, 2007..) Now, the founders of Ortho KinematicsInc. believe a new spine function test will help surgeons determine which patients can benefit from spinal fusions as well as motion preserving devices entering into the market place.

Adam Deitz, CEO of Ortho Kinematics, says that conventional spine diagnostics look at spine function through a blurry lens; that is, they can catch gross dysfunction but not minor deviations,...

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