The first surgical implant in the United Kingdom of Aurora Spine Corporation’s Zip Ultra, a minimally invasive interspinous device, took place in late February. Stuart James, M.D, performed the surgery at the University Hospital Llandough, a part of the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
Aurora Spine ZIPS Into Britain

“The ZIP MIS implant is very well designed. It is both stable and secure. Implanting the device was simple, easy and safe, ” said James who has completed a recognized spine fellowship in Bristol, UK, where he has gained extensive experience in all aspects of spinal disease and spinal conditions. The company’s news release reports that James ‘experience ranges from trauma and tumor work to adult and pediatric complex deformity of the spine. “I will be expanding my use of the product as I believe it has multiple spine fusion indications, ” he said.
James Trent Northcutt, Aurora Spine’s president and CEO said, “We are absolutely thrilled that Aurora now offers our MIS portfolio in the United Kingdom, including the ZIP MIS Interspinous System. We believe that the ZIP device will change spine surgery in the U.S. with a true minimally invasive approach designed to achieve reproducible, superior patient outcomes.”
Aurora Spine is an early stage company focused on bringing new solutions to the spinal implant market.

Discussion
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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