Spine Innovations has announced that more than 20,000 of its ESP spinal disc replacements have now been successfully implanted in patients around the world. The company now operates in a total of 17 countries and are currently working towards Food and Drug Administration approval to enter the US market.
Spine Innovations president, Sandrine Carle, said: “More and more surgeons are choosing to replace degenerative discs with prostheses that can maintain spinal motion instead of fusing the segment. ESP disc replacements provide that solution by replicating natural disc motion and enabling the entire spine to behave as normally as possible.”
ESP discs combine two titanium end plates with an elastomeric cushion made of polycarbonate urethane. According to Spine Innovations, this structure imitates the natural disc, in which bony segments are connected by a spongy disc that provides flexibility while withstanding the pressures of compression and torsion.
Specific features of the end plates—short spikes, a rough outer surface, and a coating of hydroxyapatite, which is proven to enhance bone ingrowth—help to ensure stability and bony fixation of the implant over time, say the company.
Svante Berg of the Stockholm Spine Center (Stockholm, Sweden), said: “With the ESP, the patients gain a counter force which is similar to what the natural disc provides and reduces risks of facet pain.”
Jean Yves Lazennec of Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital (Paris, France), added: “The ESP discs reproduce the natural centre of rotation and adapt when the patient is aging.”
