OrtoWay extends usage of its hydraulic OrtoWell® Distractor tool to include spinal tumor or trauma surgery

STOCKHOLM–(BUSINESS WIRE)–OrtoWay AB, a medical technology company based in Stockholm, Sweden, says that its OrtoWell® Distractor instrument for spinal surgery can now be used by surgeons in connection with spinal tumor removal or trauma. Following tests on animals and cadavers, it was shown that the device may offer time-saving possibilities for surgeons, giving them freer access and resulting in more accurate implant positioning. The instrument fixates the vertebra in a unique way which allows safer and less complicated insertion of implants and can be used with any prosthesis.

Already approved in Europe (CE Mark) and the US (Class 1 medical device), the OrtoWell® Distractor is a hydraulically powered system that separates and holds apart vertebral bodies in the spinal column during anterior surgery. It consists of some non-disposable parts (distractor unit, spanner unit, retractors and frame, tools) as well as disposable components (tube unit, gauge, hooks, bone screws). The use of gentle, yet powerful incremental hydraulic force to prevent the vertebrae from collapsing or moving during operations is beneficial to surgeons since it facilitates correct positioning of spinal prosthesis such as disc implants, ALIF cages and during corpectomies.

Longer space enabled

The novel technology, which is mainly intended for disc prosthesis and ALIF cages, can also be used during spinal tumor surgeries or trauma where the removal of vertebra is clinically required. This is made possible through a solution that allows for longer space when inserting hydraulic implants during such surgery.

Easier, more accurate

“The availability of this solution makes access during reconstructive process much easier and allows for more accurate positioning of such prosthesis,” says Dr. Staffan Bowald, Spine Center, Stockholm, Sweden one of the inventors of this technology.

“This new development is in line with our goal of making anterior-approach surgeries simpler and more accurate, which has the potential to enable better outcomes of such procedures,” says Stan Mikulowski, CEO of OrtoWay AB.

About OrtoWay AB

OrtoWay AB was founded in 2006 by a group of experts in biomaterials, spinal surgery and medical technology who were looking for ways to improve anterior surgery and implantation of spinal prosthesis in the lumbar region. The developer behind the OrtoWell® Distractor system is today a Swedish privately held medical technology company that is seeking partners for commercialization. The OrtoWell® instrument has CE marking for medical devices in Europe and is approved for usage as a Class 1 medical device in the USA. The product will be made available through OrtoWay LLC, an independent company based near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

OrtoWay has received patents for this invention in Europe, the USA and in Australia.

OrtoWell® is a registered trademark in the USA, EU and Australia.

Currently OrtoWay is looking for partners to commercialize this invention.

US patent number 8,152,811, CE Marked

OrtoWell® Distractor

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