Startup spinal implant company Carlsmed and startup spine imaging system company Precisive Surgical have completed a merger to develop a personalized surgical workflow platform.
The system will combine clinical intelligence, advanced image recognition, and 3D printing to enable earlier surgical intervention delivering personalized implants to patients with complex, multi-level spinal alignment deviation, according to San Diego-based Carlsmed. The system is designed to work with traditional, MIS and robotic surgical techniques. Possible results include better patient outcomes and quality of life, reduction in the use of opioids for pain management, as well as decreased overall surgical costs to the patient, surgeon and hospital/surgery center.
“Today’s imaging for severe spinal deformities is primarily used for diagnostic purposes only,” said Carlsmed CEO Mike Cordonnier in a news release. “The proprietary platform we are developing enables surgeons to use this information directly for surgical intervention. Our platform changes the way traditional radiographic imaging studies are taken. This enables creation of devices and surgical plans in a build-on-demand business model. This technology leap addresses a giant opportunity to use meaningful data for improved patient care.”
“In surgery, we have access to enormous amounts of imaging data preoperatively or intraoperatively that is not currently being harnessed to its fullest extent to improve patient outcomes,” added Precisive Surgical co-founder, spine surgeon and Carlsmed chief medical Dr. Justin Esterberg. “The system we’re creating will allow us to truly capture this data for each patient and optimize implant dimensions and trajectories for spinal cages and instrumentation to enhance patient outcomes following surgery.”
Carlsmed is a portfolio company of EvoNexus, a Southern California technology incubator. Seattle-based Precisive Surgical is the most recent company to spin-out from life science technology incubator IntuitiveX. In addition to the merger, Carlsmed entrepreneur, spine surgeon, and IntuitiveX CEO Dr. Jeffrey Roh has been appointed to the board of directors, along with co-foundersCordonnier, Esterberg and Niall Casey.
“The combination of medtech expertise at Carlsmed and Precisive Surgical leverages advanced materials in 3d printing, high definition imaging and Machine Learning with the goal of improving the lives of patients by achieving shorter recovery while reducing the need for revision surgery,” said EvoNexus CEO Rory Moore. “Carlsmed is the 30th medtech startup to be admitted to the prestigious EvoNexus incubator.Twenty-seven of the 30 achieved venture funding and four have already been acquired.”
The Carlsmed system is not yet available for sale.