Becker's Spine Review

29 DEVICES & IMPLANTS 9 spine surgeons surpassing 100 robotic cases this year By Alan Condon S ince its launch in 2017, Globus Medical's ExcelsiusGPS spine robot has been used in almost 30,000 procedures as adoption continues across the spine industry. Here are nine spine surgeons who exceeded 100 procedures with ExcelsiusGPS this year: 1. Douglas Crowther, DO, of the Colorado Center of Orthopaedic Excellence in Colorado Spring, completed his 100th ExcelsiusGPS spine case in July. 2. Samuel Taylon, MD, completed his 100th spine surgery with the robot at Overland Park (Kan.) Regional Medical Center in July. 3. Sravisht Iyer, MD, of New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery, completed his 100th robotic-assisted spine procedure with ExcelsiusGPS in May. 4. Andrew Kokkino, MD, completed his 100th ExcelsiusGPS surgery at Peacehealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend in Springfield, Ore., in May. 5. Vladimir Sinkov, MD, of Las Vegas-Based Sinkov Spine Center, completed his 100th spine surgery using the ExcelsiusGPS robot in April. 6. Michael Gallizzi, MD, who recently joined Vail, Colo.-based e Steadman Clinic, completed his 100th robotic spine surgery with ExcelsiusGPS in April. 7. Kee Kim, MD, performed his 100th ExcelsiusGPS spine surgery at the UC Davis Spine Center in Sacramento in March. 8. Mitchell Garden, MD, of Torrington, Conn.-based Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, marked 100 spine surgeries with the ExcelsiusGPS robot in March. 9. Kenneth Hood, DO, of the Abrazo Spine Institute in Goodyear, Ariz., completed his 120th robotic spine surgery with ExcelsiusGPS in February. n How Medtronic is strengthening its spine business By Alan Condon M edtronic has strengthened its position in the spine surgical market with several key moves in recent months: 1. The FDA cleared Medtronic's UNiD Spine Analyzer v4.0 planning platform in July. The technology uses machine learning to help surgeons plan and customize lumbar spine surgeries and predicts spinal compensation mechanisms six months after the operation. It is the first and only predictive technology the FDA cleared for spine surgery, according to Medtronic. 2. Medtronic received FDA clearance and breakthrough device designation for its LigaPass 2.0 ligament augmentation system in June. LigaPass was developed by Medicrea, which Medtronic acquired in late 2020, and is the only FDA-cleared device for ligament augmentation in spine surgery, according to the company. 3. The UNiD Spine Analyzer and LigaPass technologies can be integrated with Medtronic's Mazor X Stealth to make the spine robot more attractive to surgeons. The spinal surgical robotics market is anticipated to heat up in the coming years, and Medtronic plans to continue to be at its forefront. The market is valued at $124 million, but is expected to increase at 16 percent to 20 percent annually over the next five years, according to The Motley Fool. n Former Medtronic employee, contractor charged in $1M fraud, money-laundering scheme By Carly Behm A former employee and contractor of Medtronic's Costa Rica business have been charged with conspiring to defraud the company in a $1 million scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Former site director Elieser Feliciano-Soto and former contract worker José E. Santana-Criado were involved in the building of a manufacturing facility for Medtronic in Costa Rica around 2017, according to the federal indictment. They allegedly organized Innovative Engineering Corp. and Innovative Engineering in Puerto Rico to fraudulently obtain payments from Medtronic-CR for the provision of services that weren't rendered. Mr. Feliciano-Soto allegedly authorized purchase orders issued by Innovative Engineering to defraud Medtronic. He and Mr. Santana-Criado then transferred their wire fraud proceeds to accounts in Illinois, according to the indictment. Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison for each charge. n

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