Champions of Health: Spotlight On Leaders Shaping Germany’s Healthcare
We are delighted to inform that an interview with the CEO and Founder of joimax®, Mr. Wolfgang Ries, has been published in the Champions of Health magazine.
The Interview
In this insightful interview, Mr. Ries shares the inspiring story behind the founding of joimax®and provides an in-depth look at our cutting-edge products and innovations that are shaping the future of minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery.
I believe in fostering a culture of collaboration and teamwork as well as empowerment within the organization. By encouraging open communication and valueing diverse perspectives, I ensure that decisions are well-informed and reflective of the collective wisdom of the team.
Mr. Wolfgang Ries
CEO and Founder of joimax®
This publication serves as an opportunity to showcase the dedication of joimax® to advancing endoscopic minimally invasive spine spine surgery technology and improving patient care.
KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – German-based joimax®, the market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, announces the launch of its new website alongside a significant presence at the Global Spine Congress (GSC) in Bangkok, May 15 – 18. This dual celebration marks a pivotal moment for the company as it showcases its latest product innovations and commemorates two decades of excellence with TESSYS®, a pioneering technique that has revolutionized endoscopic spine surgery.
“These advancements are game-changers in endoscopic spine surgery, especially the transforaminal approach and will undoubtedly revolutionize how to tackle complex spinal procedures.”
The new website provides a seamless digital experience for customers and partners, worldwide. With enhanced features and user-friendly navigation, www.joimax.com serves as a comprehensive hub of information on joimax®’s cutting-edge endoscopic spine surgery solutions.
At GSC, joimax® is not only celebrating 20 years of TESSYS®, but also exhibiting an array of product innovations, such as TESSYS® Trans SAP with the newest Double Drill, ilESSYS® Biportal, the RoboFIX® robotorized Arm, and the Camsource® Duo, which further enhances surgical precision and visualization, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
“We are immensely proud of the impact TESSYS® has had on the field of endoscopic spine surgery,” stated joimax® CEO and President Wolfgang Ries. “joimax® has pioneered the transforaminal approach, building upon and enhancing Parviz Kambin’s original concept, influencing our path to endoscopic fusion. Our commitment to excellence remains unwavering as we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in minimally invasive spine surgery.”
Feedback from surgeons has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing enthusiasm for joimax®‘s “fireworks of innovations”. Dr. Frank Hassel, Chief Physician Spinal Surgery and Medical Director, Loretto Krankenhaus Freiburg, Germany; Prof. Junseok Bae, President, Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, South Korea; and Prof. Christoph P. Hoftstetter, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Cape Cod Healthcare, Hyannis, USA issued this group statement: “These advancements are game-changers in endoscopic spine surgery, especially the transforaminal approach and will undoubtedly revolutionize how to tackle complex spinal procedures.”
Also at GSC, joimax® is hosting expert talks, and leading basic and advanced workshops. From groundbreaking technologies to intuitive surgical tools, joimax® continues to lead the way in providing surgeons with the necessary resources to address a wide-range of spinal issues. To learn more about joimax®‘s innovations, visit www.joimax.com or stop by the joimax® GSC booths 2 and 3.
KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – German-based joimax®, the market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, is excited to announce the full registration of all its products for India, one of the fastest growing endoscopic spine surgery markets worldwide.
The Indian registration includes all joimax® Class II and III, as well as Class I instruments, which were approved in 2023. Now, the Indian health community has access to all the latest spinal endoscopic technologies invented, developed and manufactured by joimax®.
“India is the biggest country in the world; it’s ready for emerging technology businesses like endoscopic spinal surgery,” states Santhosh Mechery, Director Spectramed Healthcare (P) Ltd. “We can’t wait to roll-out the complete joimax® portfolio in our country and enable so many patients to profit from this innovative, minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery.”
“Earlier this year, joimax® received its CE MDR approvals, granted by TÜV-South — an important step for marketing our existing products under the new European regulation, which opened a backlog of products to India,” states joimax® Founder and CEO Wolfgang Ries. “We’re already active in more than 60 countries! These partners are eager to launch the newest joimax® treatment technologies.”
In Fall 2022, joimax®, in cooperation with Spectramed Healthcare, launched its education and training program, Endoscopic Spine Academy (ESPINEA®), in India, which has since been rolled out worldwide. ESPINEA® was founded in 2019, accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2020, and this year, is celebrating its 5th anniversary. The program allows for the highest quality training of joimax® products in any market, serving as a hands-on learning facility for endoscopic spinal surgery.
Melle, Belgium –(ORSI ACADEMY)- Orsi Academy, the unique training & expertise centre for robotic and minimally invasive surgery in Melle, is once more enhancing its training facilities. With the support of the European Regional Development Fund, made available by VLAIO, it invested in revolutionizing robotic technology from Corin and latest navigation systems from joimax®. This equipment allows Orsi Academy to further expand its offer in clinical disciplines such as navigated spinal surgery, neurosurgery and orthopaedic surgery, particularly in knee and hip replacements. With the investment, Orsi Academy continues to contribute to improve and increase the quality and safety of our modern healthcare system.
“With the investment, Orsi continues to improve and increase the quality and safety of our modern healthcare system.”
Corin’s revolutional orthopaedic OMNIBotics System is designed to enhance precision to the balancing and implantation of knee replacements. This partnership will undoubtedly elevate the standards in training in orthopaedic surgical procedures.
Simultaneously, through a partnership with joimax®, Orsi Academy aims to pioneer advancements in spinal surgery. joimax®’s Intracs System is a smart navigation system based on electromagnetic tracking ensuring an easy and safe access to any spinal target.
The grant from the European Regional Development Fund plays a crucial role in financing the acquisition of these technologies, marking a significant milestone for Orsi Academy. This partnership not only integrates two remarkable platforms into its robotic family but also expands the training offerings, providing healthcare professionals with hands-on experience in the latest minimally invasive techniques.
Giovanni Tegami, Managing Director Corin Belgium
“Corin is honored to collaborate with Orsi Academy in advancing orthopaedic surgery training. Our robotic technology aims to enhance outcomes by restoring proper soft tissue balance and leg alignment, crucial factors in knee replacement success. Through this partnership, we’re eager to contribute to elevating standards in orthopaedic surgical procedures.”
Wolfgang Ries, Founder and CEO of the joimax® Group
“Being able to offer the Intracs® EM navigation system at any course held at the Orsi Academy for training and research needs is huge. It allows participants to directly experience the ease of use in endoscopic spine surgery and learn the difference of non-navigated and fully navigated procedures significantly driving the accelerating adoption rate of endoscopy in spine, which sees very fast growing high level literature on new applications, but also on major patient and surgeon benefits!”
Prof. Dr. Thomas Luyckx, Medical Leadership Orthopaedics Orsi Academy
“We are excited about the possibilities and advancements this collaboration will bring. This grant and collaboration reaffirms our dedication to pushing the boundaries of orthopaedic medical education.”
KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – German-based joimax®, the market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, and distributor Uber Ros S.p.A are excited to announce their new partnership for the Italian market, effective immediately.
Under this strategic alliance, Uber Ros will be a full sales and service provider of joimax® products to surgeons and medical practitioners throughout Italy. The partnership allows both companies to expand the renowned joimax® brand via first-rate networks and distribution channels to the Italian health community, ensuring that patients have access to the latest spinal endoscopic technologies.
“We’re looking forward to working with Uber Ros, a strong and well-established partner in Italy,” says joimax® Founder and CEO Wolfgang Ries.<
“Together, we will continue to provide best-in-class service and grow our presence in the Italian spine community while creating a solid business growth strategy,” states Uber Ros President and COO Giorgio Rosati.
In addition, the acclaimed joimax® training and education program for spine physicians, managed under ESPINEA®, the Endoscopic Spine Academy powered by joimax®, will be introduced in Italy. “Uber Ros and joimax® will align all education activities and set-up special workshop programs that offer certified courses to Italian physicians,” says ESPINEA® Chairman Wolfgang Ries.
About Uber Ros S.p.A
Uber Ros S.p.A was founded in Rome in 1986 by Dr. Umberto Rosati and his son Giorgio. It is a Medical Devices Distribution Company active in all Italian territories. Uber Ros promotes and sells high-tech medical devices, mainly specialized in Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery, Neurosurgery, Spine, Maxillo-Facial, Head and Neck surgery (ENT-OTO), Wound Care and Vascular surgery. Uber Ros has a sales organization spread throughout Italy, providing customer service 24 hours on any day of the year. The Company collaborates with the world leading Research Centers, and is involved in the most advanced studies on bioengineering, promoting and supporting scientific research in high-tech emerging fields.
KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – joimax®, the German-based market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, launched its new iLESSYS® Biportal Interlaminar Endoscopic Surgical System for the treatment of spinal disorders at the EUROSPINE 2023 Annual Meeting in Frankfurt and at the SMISS Annual Forum (Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery) in Las Vegas, marking its global debut. This week, it will be presented at the NASS meeting (North American Spine Society) in Los Angeles.
The new instrument set, iLESSYS® Biportal for unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE), expands the wide range of joimax® endoscopic offerings by separating the instrument working port from the endoscope, allowing for free relative movement between the two. The iLESSYS® Biportal offers all instruments tailor-made for biportal spinal endoscopy, with:
A special Triangulation Tool to simplify the access triangulation of two ports
Biportal specific working tubes with inbuilt irrigation outflow control for precise water management
Larger, more powerful tools for effective tissue ablation and resection
“This system is excellent and will allow me to perform the surgeries not only biportally but also bimanually,” stated Javier Quillo-Olvera, M.D., spinal neurosurgeon and an expert in biportal surgery at the Brain and Spine Care Group, Querétaro, Mexico. “It allows me to use the iLESSYS® Pro working channel endoscope. I’m excited to use it with my patients.”
EUROSPINE attendees were impressed that this comprehensive system could be used as a biportal system and available for bimanual surgical procedures. Moreover, the iLESSYS® played a key role during the expert talks, spurring debate about when to use the transforaminal (TESSYS®) and when to use the interlaminar (iLESSYS®) approach for a given spinal disease.
“The system will be part of the ESPINEA® training and education program and will be fully implemented in the workshop courses by the end of the year,” commented Wolfgang Ries, CEO and founder of the joimax® group. “We´ve already lined up a range of surgical faculty in Europe (Dr. Ralf Wagner, Dr. Maxime Challali, Dr. Raed Abohussein, Dr. Miguel Loureiro), in the Americas (Dr. Peter Derman, Dr. Meng Huang, Dr. Javier Quillo-Olvera) and in Asia (Prof. Si-Young Park, Dr. Junseok Bae) among others in each of these regions, with many more to follow.”
KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – joimax®, the German-based market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, presented at the ESPINEA® World Summit at the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, PASMISS in Taiwan, NASSi in Bangkok, the ASEAN MISST in Jakarta, and at the first Annual Endoscopic Spine Surgery Symposium at the Seattle Science Foundation.
From July 13 to 15 more than 80 attendees from 22 countries connected at the ESPINEA® World Summit. “This historic event was a major milestone in the educational training activity of ESPINEA®, where we are proud to guide highly active surgeons from around the world within this encouraging field of endoscopic spinal therapy,” concluded ESPINEA® board members Dr. Alastair Gibson and Dr. Menno Iprenburg.
The July events provided joimax® the ideal opportunity to launch the highly anticipated surgical access systems, iLESSYS®Biportal and TESSYS®Trans SAP, along with the new electrosurgical probe, Vaporace®Bipo, which are key to the soon-to-be announced endoscopic expandable fusion platform.
joimax® will also share its latest developments at EUROSPINE in Frankfurt, affording participants an opportunity to attend an open house at their global headquarters in Karlsruhe, where they will further learn about joimax®’s research and manufacturing capabilities. Moreover, the joimax® US team will welcome NASS attendees in its hometown of Los Angeles.
“We are excited to see the widespread acceptance of endoscopic spine surgery around the globe,” said joimax® Founder and CEO Wolfgang Ries. “Having reached a tipping point, the NASS endoscopic “Surgical Stadium” event, will be another highlight the spine community can look forward to”. For further information and event registration, contact joimax®.
joimax® demonstrating its innovative minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery solutions at Global Spine Congress 2023
Prague, Czech Republic | June 2023 – During this years Global Spine Congress (GSC) joimax® CEO & Founder, Wolfgang Ries, talked to the GSC Chairman, Jeffery Wang, MD, PhD about the latest innovations by joimax®.
KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – The newly renovated and expanded Endoscopic Spinal Academy (ESPINEA®) facilities, sponsored by joimax®, makes exceptionally, high-quality training accessible in an innovative and appealing environment. Every day, the Academy offers educational and hands-on workshops to surgery teams, customers and partners.
Ries took on the newly created role of Executive Vice President, Business Development and Operations at joimax®. In this position, based in Germany, he will be responsible for scaling global operations to ensure joimax® continues its exponential growth. Formerly the General Manager, for the past six of his 13-year tenure with joimax®, Ries built out the United States and Latin American markets.
“We are continuously developing and adapting our programs to meet customer demand”.
Courses and workshops at a pre-clinical and clinical level
For almost five years, ESPINEA®, which is accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, has stood for excellence in training in the field of endoscopic spinal surgery. After the recent inauguration of ESPINEA® China, joimax® has refurbished and enlarged the existing Karlsruhe training facilities into a modern, state-of-the art center to support their growing educational and training programs. The showroom demonstrates solutions from joimax®, the market leader in endoscopic spinal surgery technologies, enabling visitors to experience this mastery daily.
Organized in sections, by product line, practitioners can try out each clinical model, simulating an operative environment, and learn firsthand about the positive ergonomics and streamlined workflow of these offerings. All labs are equipped with integrated joimax® surgery systems, including the latest generation endoscopic tower, NAVENTO®. The surgery stations are digitally connected to imaging and to the joimax®Intracs® electromagnetic navigation system so that the endoscopic spinal surgery methods and applications can be reproduced during training. Moreover, the furnishings have been fully optimized so that the rooms can be easily adapted to new products and solutions.
“As a leading innovator in spinal surgery techniques, it’s important that ESPINEA® offers a pioneering center to further education and training,” said Wolfgang Ries, CEO and founder of joimax® and chairman and founder of ESPINEA®. “The dynamic, holistic and needs-oriented program sets new standards.”
The main focus is on endoscopic spinal care solutions for pain therapy, decompression, deherniation, and spinal stabilization. All hands-on sections have an open lab design, and bring the concept to life on how the products work together.
Setting standards in training of endoscopic spinal surgery
Professional knowledge and well-practiced skills are the building blocks for successful endoscopic spinal surgery.
“We are continuously developing and adapting our programs to meet customer demand,” said Susanne Schmidinger, senior director, global marketing and education. “We are convinced that our holistic and target-oriented education puts surgery teams in the position to optimally implement our available technologies and solutions for their patients.“
At the facility, an experienced, dedicated global team of certified faculty share their expertise and know-how. Every trainee is individually accompanied along the entire learning journey.
“It’s important that surgeons be able to directly and efficiently apply joimax® systems and methods in their daily work,” said Ries. “That’s why we developed the ESPINEA®3-step education program of visitation, hands-on workshop, and simulated live surgery.”
The program is available at ESPINEA® USA, Asia, China, and Europe.
KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – joimax®, the German-based market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, has appointed Mr. Maximilian Ries and Mr. Anthony Troncale to new executive positions, effective January 1. The announcement comes among record-breaking sales across Europe, Asia, and the United States in 2022.
Maximilian Ries
Ries took on the newly created role of Executive Vice President, Business Development and Operations at joimax®. In this position, based in Germany, he will be responsible for scaling global operations to ensure joimax® continues its exponential growth. Formerly the General Manager, for the past six of his 13-year tenure with joimax®, Ries built out the United States and Latin American markets.
Tony Troncale
Troncale was promoted to General Manager; he was formerly Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at joimax® Inc. Over the past two years, Troncale, in addition to increasing his responsibilities, successfully capitalized on the significant interest in endoscopic techniques to expand US sales operations. He joined joimax® in 2021 bringing 20-years of experience in the spinal device industry where he served in sales and marketing leadership roles at Stryker, K2M, and Synthes Spine. Contributing to the global organization’s continuous strong sales growth was the launch of a new surgical access system, “Tessys® Trans SAP” and the global expansion of the ESPINEA® Education Academy.
Wolfgang Ries
“I am extremely pleased with our 2022 global performance and the significant interest in endoscopic spine surgery,” stated joimax® Founder and CEO Wolfgang Ries. “With Max and Tony in their new roles, our market-leading endoscopic spine technologies, and our anticipated launch of two more new surgical access systems later in 2023, we are well positioned for another very successful year.”
