Recently, there has been a surge in the use of surgical robots and funding robotics in the healthcare system. Stevie Robot in the Stevo Biko Academic Hospital works with the ICU team supporting Covid-19 patients in the ICU ward. On July 5th, 2021, CMR Surgical Robotics Company, UK, raised $600 million to globally commercialize and digitally expand its ecosystem of the upcoming surgical robotic system Versius. Also, in the UK, on July 6th, 2021, the National Institute of Health Research, public health, and social care is funding robot surgery, a randomized control trial, for 1.6million pounds. This study will compare the benefits of robotic surgery with human surgical techniques in the knee replacement procedure.
Moving on to robots in spine surgeries, Integrity Implants joins hands with Fusion Robotics to form a new company called Accelus. Accelus plans to make Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) for spine care with procedure-enabling technology as the standard for all spine surgeries.
Integrity Implants is a medical device company that develops and focuses on bi-directional expandable interbody cage monolithic implants. The FlareHawk family of expandable interbody expand in height, width, and lordosis and this is the first of its kind in the world. Its strength and rigidity help treat height, weight, or lordosis problems. Its exclusive Adaptive Geometry technology takes care of, during and after implantation, a patient’s neural, vascular, bony, and soft tissue anatomy.
Fusion Robotics Boulder, Colo, is a company working in the medical technology field. Its focus is on design, development, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, navigation for spine surgery using surgical robotics technologies. Among many other laurels, on November 19, 2020, Fusion Robotics was awarded the Best Spine Technology by Orthopedics for that week.
Accelus will promote robotics in spine surgery hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers with its enabling technology platforms. The merger makes Accelus products accessible to all patients without any compromise. It will adapt to patients’ anatomy, surgeon’s choice of approach, healthcare facilities and be cost-effective. This is their core principle.
The benefits of MIS, even though recognized for decades, have not been broadly adopted due to various constraints in interventional procedures. But, the robots of Fusion Robotics’ that are efficient, compact, and scalable, along with the unique Adaptive Geometry implants of Integrity Implants, will accelerate the adoption of MIS.
Neurosurgeon Kevin Foley, M.D., Chief Robotics Officer of Fusion Robotics is positive about the opportunities that lie ahead in the innovation in spine surgery with this merger. He points out that the implant portfolio complements the robotics platform, and the rapid developments in robotics, specifically in the fluoroscopy-based robotics system, will transform opportunities in the innovation in the spine.
Accelus will present its current products at the Spine Summit in July 2021 in San Diego and at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in Orlando in August. New product launches will be unveiled at the North American Spine Society’s 36th Annual Meeting in Boston.
