According to a company release, the OrtoWell distractor instrument for spinal surgery from OrtoWay can now be used by surgeons in connection with spinal tumour removal or trauma.
Following tests on animals and cadavers, it was shown that the device may offer time-saving possibilities for surgeons. This could give them freer access, resulting in more accurate implant positioning, according to the release. The instrument should fixate the vertebra in a unique way which allows safer and less complicated insertion of implants and can be used with any prosthesis.
The OrtoWell distractor is a hydraulically-powered system designed to separate and hold apart vertebral bodies in the spinal column during anterior surgery. It consists of some non-disposable parts (distractor unit, spanner unit, retractors and frame, tools) as well as disposable components (tube unit, gauge, hooks, bone screws). The use of gentle, but powerful incremental hydraulic force to prevent the vertebrae from collapsing or moving during operations is beneficial to surgeons, according to the release, since it should facilitate correct positioning of spinal prosthesis such as disc implants and ALIF cages, and during corpectomies.
The novel technology, which is intended for disc prosthesis and ALIF cages, is also designed for use during spinal tumour surgeries or trauma where the removal of vertebra is clinically required. This is made possible through a solution that allows for longer space when inserting hydraulic implants during such surgery.
“The availability of this solution makes access during reconstructive process much easier and allows for more accurate positioning of such prosthesis,” says Staffan Bowald, Spine Center, Stockholm, Sweden one of the inventors of this technology.
