It was indeed the Woodstock of Spine
BY EDITOR, OCTOBER 15, 2003
All that was missing was mud and rain. We even had the crowds and chemical enhancements (basically caffeine). Certainly from the organizers perspective, crowded halls and rooms (standing room only usually) were mighty gratifying. From the attendees standpoint... we needed more room and that'll happen next year. Presenters were, of course, great. Of the four tracks, biologics and non-fusion were, I think, the strongest. MIS was ok, but kind of missed the mark in some ways and probably spent too much time on vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty.
Although if that was your interest, some of the speakers were (to put it nicely) thought provoking. In fact, if memory serves one of our panel members made the point of saying he resented one of our other speakers.
Hey, good entertainment value. And in the new technology section (my personal favorite) we heard about some amazing new technologies including the Medafor hemostat (stops active bleeding cold), Acologix (peptide growth factor – yet another inexpensive challenge to InFuse) and Mazor (an amazingly small and effective surgical navigation device).
The Summit was divided into four sections; Biologics, MIS, Non-Fusion and New Technology. The presenters for each area were:
Probably the two best attended tracks were biologics and non-fusion. In biologics the two principal themes were international expansion (MTF, Osteotech, Tutogen and FzioMed were generating significant portions of their future growth overseas) and new technologies. Non-fusion, principally disc arthroplasty, drew standing room only crowds. Tony Viscogliosi, of the Viscogliosi Bros., gave an all-you-need to know presentation regarding disc arthroplasty and how it fits into what he defined as the natural progression of orthopedic treatments of: remove, repair, replace and regenerate. All the arthroplasty presenters including Raymedica, Dr. Scott Blumenthal and Interpore Cross, said that current fusion techniques in the spine lag other orthopedic areas. Clearly, non-fusion advances spinal treatments from, what Tony Viscogliosi identified as, a “replacement” stage from a “repair” stage.
Several truly innovative products were premiered at the Summit. Medafor's potato starch hemostat which can stop active bleeding in the spine was fascinating. Acologix's peptide showed potentially superior bone regeneration capability to BMP. MicroDexterity's force-response surgical assist devices had more than one surgeon in the audience salivating. And Spineology's OptiMesh Bone Grafting Containment System was a very creative method to contain any form of bone graft within the spine, helping to prevent diffusion of the graft. We could easily see this system being used to contain bone cement during vertebroplasty/Kyphoplasty.
For a complete profile of the conference presenters as well as a forecast of Spine's next ten years, the 366 page conference book is available. Order online at http://www.HealthpointCapital.com. The cost is $995.
