Kalamazoo medical technology company Stryker has launched a new implant for spinal fusion surgery made of both solid and porous structures, leveraging the company’s proprietary Tritanium In-Growth Technology.
The Monterey AL Interbody System is a stand-alone interbody fusion device designed for anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) surgery, a type of spinal fusion performed to stabilize a painful motion segment in the lower back, commonly caused by lumbar degenerative disc disease and/or spondylolisthesis.
Tritanium In-Growth Technology is a material designed to mimic cancellous bone and provide an environment favorable to bone regeneration and fusion. New data demonstrates that undifferentiated stem cells grown on Tritanium exhibited osteogenic Alkaline Phosphatase without requiring growth factor supplements, according to Stryker.
Tritanium is a 3-D printed, novel, highly porous titanium material designed for bone in-growth and biological fixation, built using AMagine, Stryker’s proprietary approach to implant creation using additive manufacturing.
“This is an exciting time for our division, as we continue to build momentum and expand our portfolio to bring new technology to our surgeon customers,” says Robbie Robinson, president of the Stryker’s spine division. “One of our goals as a medical technology company and an implant manufacturer is to complement clear visualization and easy access with intuitive instruments and biologically inspired implant designs.
“Monterey AL combines more than 20 years of expertise in the creation of porous materials using additive manufacturing with innovative implants and instruments that are designed to give surgeons the flexibility to use our system without having to alter their preferred technique.”
Highlights of the Monterey AL Interbody System include:
Functionally optimized footprint options: Strategically deeper and narrower cage footprints allow surgeons to create indirect decompression by distracting the disc space posteriorly. These geometries are designed to both help prevent the cage from impinging posteriorly into the neural foramen and lessen the need to countersink the cage, thereby allowing for easy access to the anterior screw holes.
Straightforward instruments: The robust medial attachment, multiple technique possibilities, and a wide variety of screwdriver options are designed to facilitate clear visualization of and easy access to the surgical site once the approach is complete and a retractor is in place.
“No one understands 3-D printing like Stryker – the fact that they’ve been able to dial in the right mix of small, medium, and large pores in a reproducibly randomized matrix is incredible,” says Dr. Bala Giri, founder and president of the Texas Neuro Spine Institute. “Their growing body of pre-clinical data, specifically the cellular findings published most recently, makes my decision to go with these products very straightforward. Our goal with any implant is spinal fusion, and Stryker has taken a very intentional approach to designing the Tritanium cages with this goal in mind.”
Stryker will showcase the Monterey AL System as well as its recently launched Q Guidance System and Spine Guidance Software at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2022 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Oct. 8–12, and the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting in Chicago, Oct. 12-15.
Editor: R.J. King Associate Editor: Jake Bekemeyer