Spinal Elements, Inc. is launching its Lucent Ti-Bond line of PEEK interbody implants that have been coated with a porous plasma-sprayed titanium coating. Company officials say that the titanium coating creates an ideal environment for bone healing during fusion.
Spinal Elements Launches Unique Titanium Coated PEEK Implant
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Spinal Element’s Ti-Bond coating consists of random, unconnected titanium pores that are biomechanically adhered to the superior and inferior surfaces of its PEEK-OPTIMAinterbody implants through a plasma vacuum spray process. This process results in an ideal bone-opposing surface while allowing for direct visualization of the fusion mass through the radiolucent PEEK material, according to company officials.
They note that plasma-sprayed titanium porous surface coatings have been used on orthopedic patients for over 30 years with positive long-term clinical outcomes. Officials believe that the Ti-Bond coating, with its strong bond, will create the ultimate union between PEEK and titanium.
Spinal surgeon Scott Kitchel, M.D., with the NeuroSpine Institute in Eugene, Oregon, said in the August 1 news release, “This is an exciting new technology for application in the spine. It’s easy to envision this becoming the new standard for interbody fusion implants.”
Jason Blain, president and co-founder of Spinal Elements, says that Spinal Elements is the first company to introduce this technology for posterior lumbar and transforaminal interbody fusion devices into the marketplace. He added, “With the launch of our new Ti-Bond product, the spinal device market is taking a great step forward. This launch is one of an extensive line-up of product introductions we will be executing over the next 12 months. The company will be introducing its first allograft product in October.”
Spinal Elements, located in Carlsbad, California, was founded in 2003 by Todd Andres and Jason Blain. The original name of the firm was Quantum Orthopedics, Inc. In 2004, the company received its first product clearance for Lucent and Crystal and became one of the world’s largest users of PEEK in medical applications. The company name changed to Spinal Elements, Inc. in 2006 to reflect its focus on spine. Later that year it commercialized the world’s first polymer stand-alone cervical implant, Mosaic.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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