Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1388297
35 DEVICES & IMPLANTS Dr. Mark McFarland debuts spine navigation system at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital By Carly Behm S pine surgeon Mark McFarland, DO, was reportedly the first person to perform an outpatient lumbar fusion in Virginia's Peninsula region with Medacta's MySpine patient-specific navigation system. The patient was a 42-year-old woman, and the surgery was done at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News, Va., according to a May 18 news release. "Using a CT scan of their lumbar spine, my patients get a strategi- cally planned spine surgery customized to their specific anatomy, which reduces their surgical and radiation exposure while helping to maximize surgical accuracy," Dr. McFarland said. "The proce- dure is tissue and muscle-sparing and allows for smaller incisions, less blood loss, faster recovery, and uncompromised fusion rates, all of which are extremely beneficial for my patients." n Medicrea settles kickback, CMS expense reporting allegations for $2M By Laura Dyrda M edicrea, an orthopedic device manufacturer based in France, settled allegations it paid kickbacks to physicians and failed to report physician payments to Medicare, according to a May 19 statement from the U.S. Justice Department. A whistleblower accused Medicrea of violating the anti-kickback statute by entertaining physicians during the 2013 Scoliosis Research Society Con- gress in Lyon, France. The company paid $1 million to resolve the allegations. Medicrea paid another $1 million to settle allega- tions it failed to report expenses spent on entertain- ing physicians at that event to the CMS Open Pay- ments Program, as required by law. n 3 and 4-year M6-C data is out — what spine surgeons should know By Alan Condon O rthofix has released three- and four-year preliminary outcomes from its M6-C artificial cervical disc single-lev- el clinical trial. What you should know: 1. Patients treated with M6-C "continue to have statistically sig- nificant benefits at three and four years" compared to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion patients, Frank Phillips, MD, an investigator in the study, said in a May 11 news release. "This is important as it demonstrates the positive results originally re- ported in the study have been maintained through four years." 2. At three years, M6-C patients had a mean Neck Disability In- dex score of 10.9, compared to 17.2 in the ACDF group. 3. The mean Neck Disability Index for M6-C patients at four years was 10.3, compared to 19.2 for the ACDF cohort. 4. A greater percentage of M6-C disc patients experienced an improvement in Neck Disability Index scores at three and four years compared to the ACDF group. Four-year results were sig- nificantly better for the M6-C group. 5. One removal was reported in the M6-C group within the first four years post-surgery, compared to three in the ACDF group. 6. Five-year data is being collected. n South Korean spine robot gets FDA licensing By Carly Behm S outh Korean medical technology company Cu- rexo received FDA licensing for its Cuvis-spine robot. Three things to know: 1. Cuvis-spine guides pedicle screw insertion and uses a robotic arm to provide safer, more efficient surgery, according to a May 24 news release. It also reduces radiation exposure to patients and medical staff. 2. This is the third license the robot has, and it can be supplied to all countries now. 3. The robot is currently used at Severance Hospital in South Korea and an Australian medical facility. Cu- rexo plans to expand its market to Europe and the U.S. n