Misonix, Inc. (NasdaqGM: MSON), an international surgical device company that designs, manufactures and markets innovative therapeutic ultrasonic products for spine surgery, skull-based surgery, neurosurgery, wound debridement, cosmetic surgery, laparoscopic surgery and other surgical applications, announced that it participated in the 20th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST) in Vancouver, Canada, on July 10-13, 2013.
IMAST was sponsored by the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), which has gained recognition as one of the world’s premier spine societies, committed to research and education in the field of spinal deformities. The IMAST meeting gathered more than 750 of the world’s leading spine surgeons, 75% of whom practice in orthopedics, to discuss, debate and demonstrate innovative research, most advanced spine technologies and new spine techniques to improve patient care.
As an industry sponsor of IMAST, Misonix exhibited and demonstrated its innovative BoneScalpel Ultrasonic Bone Cutting System, which is rapidly gaining acceptance with spine surgeons worldwide. Consistent with the scientific theme of the meeting, an abstract titled “Blood Loss Reduced During Surgical Correction of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) with an Ultrasonic Bone Scalpel” was presented by Dr. Peter O. Newton in the form of an e-poster. The research concluded that advanced spinal osteotomies over multiple spinal levels using BoneScalpel resulted in 30-40% reduced blood loss in patients treated for one of the most common types of spinal deformity, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
“The ultrasonic BoneScalpel allows me to perform precise bone cuts in the spine safely and efficiently without having to hit on an osteotome close to the spinal cord, and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of reduced blood loss in my spinal deformity surgeries as compared to using traditional mechanical bone cutting instruments.” stated Dr.
Newton, an orthopedic spine surgeon from Rady’s Children Hospital in San Diego, CA who specializes in correcting spinal deformities in pediatric and adolescent patients. “I had suspected the ultrasonic BoneScalpel contributes to a reduction in bone bleeding and thus a reduced need for blood transfusions and cell salvage use, and the results of this study convincingly confirmed this when I compared 20 surgeries with BoneScalpel against two control groups based on my previous surgical experience.” The BoneScalpel is a novel ultrasonic osteotome used for safe, tissue-selective bone dissection that encourages en-bloc bone removal and refined osteotomies while sparing elastic soft tissue structures.
Most users report that the surgical field is relatively bloodless and clean. Loss of viable bone is minimal and controllable. The BoneScalpel has been used extensively for bone removal in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, including deformity surgery.
“We are thrilled to have been part of this meeting of world renowned experts in advanced spinal surgery,” said Michael A. McManus, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Misonix. “We are privileged to clearly demonstrate the clinical value associated with the Misonix BoneScalpel as demonstrated with this important pilot study documenting a significant reduction in blood loss. Our users have long since reported that the bleeding from cancellous bone is reduced when making bone incisions with the Misonix BoneScalpel. We are very pleased with the reduction in intraoperative blood loss associated with the BoneScalpel and the reduction in the use of expensive sealing agents and costly blood products such as blood transfusions and intraoperatively obtained cells savers. The ability to forego the use of these peripheral products reduces some of the risks to the patient associated with complex spinal surgeries and results in lower overall treatment costs.”
