Orthopedics This Week – October 2012

Anthony Yeung, M.D., receives the Parviz Kambin Award of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) in cooperation with joimax® for his outstanding achievements in the field of minimally-invasive endoscopic spinal surgery.

Yeung Honored by SMISS

Anthony Yeung, M.D., known to his many friends and admirers as “Tony,” is the 2012 recipient of the Parviz Kambin Award, given by the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) to honor outstanding surgeons in the field of endoscopic spine surgery. The Society held the ceremony during its annual meeting, September 23, and Yeung’s son, Christopher Yeung, M.D., accepted the award for his father.

SMISS established the Kambin Award, in collaboration with joimax®, to recognize the surgeons who have successfully performed more than 1,000 cases of endoscopic spinal surgery, trained more than 100 surgeons in the procedure, (in both cases specifically transforaminal surgery), published in numerous scientific publications and professional journals and given presentations at leading congresses. Finally, the recipient must demonstrate a strong commitment to clinical research and training. Choll Kim, M.D. and executive director, Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, wrote, “Tony is my hero and certainly deserves such an award.”

The award is named for Parviz Kambin, M.D. to recognize and honor his pioneering work that paved the way for minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery. Kambin identified the unique safe access point to the spinal canal now known as the “Kambin Triangle.” Previous awardees are Parviz Kambin, M.D., professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Drexel University; Michael Schubert, M.D., APEX Spine Center, Munich, Germany; and Menno Iprenburg, M.D., Veenhuizen, Netherlands.

SMISS is the only society dedicated solely to advancing minimally invasive spine surgery. Endoscopic spine surgery constitutes but a small portion of SMISS’ overall educational content regarding minimally invasive spine surgery. SMISS’ primary role is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information.

Orthopedics This Week – Yeung Honered by SMISS

Yeung Honored by SMISS

joimax®, EndoSphere Spine, LLC and the University of Toledo, Ohio, have signed a license agreement on endoscopic cage technologies

Karlsruhe, 23 October 2012. joimax® as the recognized pioneer in endoscopic spine surgery has launched the transforaminal access to the spinal canal under the brand name TESSYS® in 2004. Since then the company has consistently extended its product range and covers the complete array of therapies for spinal disorders with its systems today.

TESSYS® and iLESSYS® are applied especially for the treatment of disc herniations and stenosis utilizing the transforaminal or interlaminar access to the spinal canal, aiming for a long lasting decompression. In the area of pain therapy the company offers the products of the Multiuse series for endoscopic rhizotomy and PeNuts® for percutaneous nucleus therapy. The product range is completed by systems and products in the field of VBA management.

Consequently the next step in the evolution of the joimax® product portfolio is the stabilization and restoration of the spinal column. With the joimax® EndoLIF® programme – the term stands for Endoscopic Lumbar Interbody Fusion – various cage technologies are brought into the intervertebral foramen step by step under endoscopic view. The cage is then being filled with autologous bone or a substitute material under endoscopic control also, the intervertebral disc space and hence the whole spine segment is raised and stabilized. This will be the world’s first interbody fusion device which can be inserted under direct vision.

EndoSphere Spine’s founding members Professors Vijay Goel, PhD and Anand Agarwal, MD at the University of Toledo are among the world leading researchers in the development of biomedical device for the spine. With the assistance of a team at the University of Toledo, they have developed the cage technology, in particular a novel ring cage that is being licensed to joimax® on an exclusive worldwide basis. Prof. Goel is enthusiastic with the idea to position the cage technology using the joimax® minimally invasive access technique: “The combination of our know how with the joimax® expertise leads us to a unique concept that will dramatically push endoscopic spinal surgery forward.” His colleague Prof. Agarwal considers it even a “quantum leap forward”. “In the team at the University of Toledo and the co-founders of EndoSphere Spine, LLC (Profs Goel and Agarwal) we have found a brilliant partner to provide the spine surgeons with state-of-the-art implants for most atraumatic interventions”, adds Wolfgang Ries, CEO and Founder of joimax®.

Both parties share the vision and mission of creating pioneering technologies in order to quickly bring back patients to their usual quality of life in the long run.

About The University of Toledo
Established in 1872, The University of Toledo is home to nearly 22,500 students across 13 colleges and six Ohio campuses. The University offers more than 230 doctoral, professional, graduate and undergraduate programs. UT has earned national and international acclaim for its expertise in medical bioengineering, solar and advanced renewable energy, environmental sciences, astronomical research, translational research and biomarkers.