Kern Singh, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush University Medical Center, and his team have started to enrol patients for a clinical study on the FLXfit articulating and lordotic expandable cage (Expanding Orthopedics).
Singh, associate professor, Rush University Medical Center, co-director Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, has an international reputation in the area of minimally invasive spinal surgery. He says that “minimally invasive surgery is one of the biggest trends in spine fusion procedures, but still encompasses many challenges, one of which is delivering a large footprint cage into the disc space through a small tube.” Singh added that “the anatomy of the lower disc spaces, representing 80% of the procedures, adds further challenges of limited access as well as lordosis correction/restoration needs. Achieving that with a single implant through a minimally invasive access is a major undertaking.”
Singh explains, “Based on my initial experience with the FLXfit cage, it is easily inserted through a minimally invasive TLIF technique, as it is initially delivered as a straight cage and can be articulated inside the disc space creating a “banana-like shape”. He thinks that “this enables the surgeons to reach an optimal midline and anterior position. The unique lordotic expansion enables us to dial-in the patient-specific angle correction.”
Singh concludes, “We believe that the clinical study will provide further understanding of the clinical benefits of a lordotic expandable cage and the short- and long-term impact on the global and lumbar lordosis.”
