Category: 2013

Karlsruhe/Irvine, October 29^th 2013

Dear partners and friends,

it was our great pleasure to launch and present our latest product developments at the major spine congresses: EuroSpine as the most important spine congress on the European level and NASS as the most renowned and biggest one in the US. Please find here some impressions of both of the venues in Liverpool and New Orleans.

At both congresses our novel EndoLIF^® and Percusys^® (both not yet FDA cleared) technologies for endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion and percutaneous fixation were in the limelight, besides the earlier in the year launched CESSYS^® and Multiuse RT systems.

We are now looking forward to welcoming you at our booth at the Annual Meeting of SMISS November 1 to 3, 2013 and DWG, the German Spine Society, December 5 to 7, 2013. See you in Las Vegas and Frankfurt!

Dr. Menno Iprenburg has previously been stationed in Tanzania and Zambia as well as in many countries in Asia. As a young physician, he went wherever he was needed. Today the world comes to him. “Apart from Australia – no idea why – we have already had people from all known nations here.” By here, the orthopedist means a spot around 20 miles south of Assen. In the middle of the green expanse of North Holland, by a canal that goes on for miles, lies Veenhuizen. A few pretty, well-kept little houses; that’s all there is. At the end of the village, however, a collection of brick buildings emerges. “It is the remains of an old state jail, renovated a few years ago,” the physician explains. In one of the buildings, which used to be the quaran-tine station, the ‘Rugkliniek Veenhuizen’, also known as ‘Spineclinic Iprenburg’, set up home three years ago. Today, in a place previously used to prevent infection, intervertebral disk surgery is performed.

 

TESSYS uses a natural keyhole

Patients who are plagued by pain after an inter vertebral disk prolapse undergo a special method of surgery with Dr. Iprenburg. “In Holland, we call it PTED (Percutaneous Trans-foraminal Endoscopic Discectomy),” explains the physician, “Internationally it is known as TESSYS (Transforaminal Endoscopic Surgical System).”This refers to an endoscopic procedure for removing the intervertebral disk prolapse with minimal surgical inter-vention. The special feature of TESSYS is that the surgeon can reach through the inter-vertebral foramen, a “natural keyhole,” with his smallest instruments to the location of the prolapse, where he can remove the press-ing tissue and free the trapped nerve. The patient lies on their side, the incision is only a few millimeters long, and there are few side effects as a result. Patients who come into the Rugkliniek stooping usually leave it a few hours later walking upright.

“I have my life back!”

“When you see the relief on the patient’s face it warms your heart.” Dr. Iprenburg puts on a video that shows himself and a patient immediately after surgery. Uncertain, but with astonishment in her eyes, the patient walks two or three steps. She stops in her tracks. Then she cries. “I have my life back”, she says, her voice breaking. Speechless. It is understandable, when faced with these kinds of images, that even the experienced physician concluded: “This is the best thing I’ve ever done.” Yet TESSYS has nothing to do with miracle cures à la Lourdes, as the physician made it sound. The procedure is internationally established and validated. In studies it has been described as “signifi­cantly ­superior” ­in­ comparison­ with ­the­ standard method (e.g. with the patient in a prone position). Apparently, around 10,000 inter vertebral disk operations have been carried out to date across the world using the TESSYS method. Of those, and there is evidence to prove it, 1,700 had taken place in Veenhuizen alone as of the start of 2013. Surgery is only carried out in the Rugkliniek when the pain has not reduced six to eight weeks after the intervertebral disk prolapse. Dr. Iprenburg learnt the double keyhole procedure in Germany and practiced it as an orthopedist in Assen, before founding his own private clinic in Veenhuizen. “Although the procedure is more expensive than the standard method, it is cheaper from a macro-economic perspective, because patients can start work again sooner,” said the physician.

For further information about Dr. Menno Iprenburg please visit www.herniaklinik.nl

Karlsruhe, 12th April 2013. April is the month of international workshops for joimax^® – with its holistic Education Program and 4 cadaver workshops in total in the US and Germany the leading provider of instruments and techniques for minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery starts into spring.

The starting signal sounded on 5th April in Irvine, California, where the subsidiary joimax^®, Inc. is located. The two-day cadaver lab attended by 10 surgeons at the Advanced Med Institute let the spine physicians from around the United States experience the joimax^® TESSYS^® (Transforaminal Endoscopic Surgery System) surgery technique for the endoscopic access to the spinal column step-by-step. Reference surgeon Dr. Carl Spivak, neurosurgeon at Bassett Hospital Cooperstown in New York, talked about the anatomy of the lumbar spine, the transforaminal access to the vertebral canal and suitable indications. During the wet lab hands-on session on 3 workstations the surgeons were able to intensively try and train the minimally invasive operation technique for the treatment of disc herniations and spinal canal stenosis. „The technical performance of the joimax^® procedure and the approach to the pathology have impressed me. After the workshop I feel very comfortable expanding my indications and applying endoscopy for the spine“– that’s what stated one of the attendees.

A real highlight of the spring education initiative is the first joimax^® balloon-kyphoplasty workshop on 12th April at the Clinic for Accident, Hand and Restorative Surgery at the UKGM in Gießen, Germany. Besides interesting scientific presentations on balloon-kyphoplasty and osteoporosis therapy, the workshop’s main focus lies on the practical training of this minimally invasive surgical technique for the gentle treatment of vertebral fractures. Under the guidance of the instructors Professor Christian Heiß, Associate Professor Dr. Wolfgang Böcker and Dr. Markus Engelhardt their experiences and expert knowledge will be directly transferred to the 8 attendees.

The end of this training-intensive month forms an exclusively held workshop for a Chinese group of physicians at the University Medical Center of the Johannes-Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany. Under the guidance of Dr. Michael Schubert (Munich) und Dr. Guntram Krzok (Friedrichroda), the top delegation of 6 spine specialists from China will receive phase-on training on how to perform endoscopic spinal surgeries using the specific transforaminal and interlaminar joimax^® access and decompression procedures.

Particularly exciting for the joimax^® Faculty is 14th April when the already 5th international User Meeting will be hosted right after the Chinese Workshop. Here, the brand new joimax^® products will be presented on the anatomical specimen – starting with CESSYS^® (Cervical Endoscopic Surgical System) for the therapy of herniated discs on the cervical spine through to the next generation of TESSYS^® with the quick FastTrack-access. Specifically designed for experienced users, the fine-tuned FastTrack surgical instruments allow for the transforaminal acces to the spinal canal in fewer steps. A very special highlight is, however, the EndoLIF^® System (Endoscopic Lumbar Interbody Fusion) for spinal stabilisation, which is going to be presented for the first time. Various cage technologies and spinal implants have been designed specifically for the minimally invasive endoscopic lumbar spine fusion procedure; the access to the disc space is based on the well-proven TESSYS^® and iLESSYS^® systems – thus this is the world’s first fusion procedure under endoscopic view.

You can find all workshop dates here.