Becker's Spine Review

17 DEVICES & IMPLANTS Scott Sigman, MD. Founder and Chief Medical Officer of OrthoLazer Orthopedic Laser Centers (Chelmsford, Mass.): AI and AR will have a profound effect on orthopedic education and surgical technique. For example, two weeks ago, Danny Goel was in Vancouver, Canada, Shariff Bishai was in Detroit, and I was in Boston. We met in the metaverse to go through a Conmed rotator cuff module literally in the same virtual operating room while in three different physical locations. e options for surgical education and training are endless. I also see AI providing guidance in the operating room. Technology will allow us to combine thousands of surgical videos from orthopedic surgeons to generate standards within an AI platform. With this information, the platform will be able to predict anatomy and improve implant positioning while incorporating imaging such as MRI and generating operative notes of the procedure. n Medtronic set to cut jobs globally in effort to reduce spending By Cameron Cortigiano M edical device company Medtronic is planning to begin layoffs in an attempt to cut costs, according to an April 18 report by the Star Tribune. CEO Geoff Martha did not say the number of jobs Medtronic is planning to cut, but layoffs will vary by team, region and country. On the company's February quarterly earnings call, he said Medtronic would be going through significant cost reductions. The company, which had more than 95,000 employees globally at the end of April 2022, began notifying employees of the decision on April 18. On April 7, the company informed the state of California that it was laying off 59 employees from its facility in Sunnyvale. Medtronic has offered early retirement packages to select employees, but that number has also not been disclosed, the report said. Other cost reduction methods the company has taken up include limiting travel and slowing its hiring process. n ZimVie to lay off 5% of its workforce By Claire Wallace S pine and bone solution manufacturer ZimVie plans to lay off 5 percent of its global workforce in 2023, according to data presented in its first quarter financial results. The company also plans to reduce discretionary spending, with the changes expected to save $17 million to $20 million in annualized net savings by 2024. This workforce reduction comes as the company saw a 4.1 percent dip in sales in the first quarter, resulting in a $30 million net loss. ZimVie currently employs about 2,700 team members worldwide, according to its company website This comes as devicemaker Medtronic also announced impending layoffs to cut costs. n Physician advocacy group warns against Neuralink trials By Carly Behm T he Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine on May 26 released a statement urging Elon Musk and his company Neuralink to pivot clinical trials for a brain implant. is comes a day aer Neuralink earned FDA approval to begin clinical trials on humans for the brain implant, which aims to address spinal cord injuries. e Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said they want Mr. Musk and the company to look at noninvasive brain-interface options that don't come with risks of surgical complications. "Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants," the statement said. "Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients." e group also pointed to past safety concerns during Neuralink's trials in animals. e Physicians Committee obtained internal documents about monkey experiments at the University of California Davis, which led to federal investigations. In one incident the statement detailed, a monkey suffered complications and brain bleeding aer having electrodes implanted. "Musk needs to drop his obsession with sticking a device in our heads," Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy with the Physicians Committee, said in the statement. "If he cared about the health of patients, he would invest in a noninvasive brain-computer interface." n

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