Stryker will feature its 3D-printed Tritanium posterior lumbar (PL) cage at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS; 14-18 March, San Diego, USA), introducing a variety of new cage sizes.
Stryker’s Tritanium PL initially offered four footprint options, eight height options, and two lordosis options. The company now offers several additional sizes, including a hyper-lordotic (12°) cage option, as well as two new footprints—9 x 32mm and 11 x 32mm.
Also at AAOS, results will be presented from a pre-clinical animal study that evaluated the biomechanical performance and bone in-growth potential of various lumbar interbody fusion implants utilizing different materials, including the Tritanium PL Cage. Preliminary results of the study were presented at the North American Spine Society conference in October 2016.
Tritanium Technology is intended to allow for the creation of porous structures designed to mimic cancellous bone in pore size, level of porosity, and interconnectivity of the pores. This “precise randomisation” of fully interconnected pores differs from technologies featuring longitudinal channels and traverse windows that result in a uniform lattice structure, as well as cages offering porosity present at only a surface level.
The Tritanium PL Cage features fully interconnected pores that span endplate to endplate. Its large lateral windows and open architecture are designed to allow visualisation of fusion on CT and X-ray, and its solid-tipped, angled serrations are designed to allow for bidirectional fixation and to maximise surface area for endplate contact with the cage. Additional spinal implants based on Stryker’s Tritanium Technology are in development.
The company will also demonstrate the Aero-C cervical stability system (Aero-C) and Xia 4.5 cortical trajectory implants and instruments at the meeting.
Using the company’s Aerofoil compression technology, Aero-C is designed to pull the vertebral bodies toward the implant as it is inserted, creating compressive forces at the implant-to-endplate interface. The AAOS demonstration is intended to highlight the full commercial launch of the device.
Xia CT includes implants and instruments used in less invasive LITe LIF posterior lumbar interbody fusion procedures for patients with degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, and trauma. The cortical trajectory procedure is designed to facilitate a smaller midline incision to help achieve decompression, fixation, and fusion. It also is intended to be more muscle sparing than standard open procedures that require lateral dissection, and its reduced incision may allow for more efficient exposure and closure time.
