Single-use or disposable instruments, kits and products are not new to the medical and biopharma markets but they are already in the Spinal Business. This technology will likely succeed as result of cost reduction demands by hospitals and healthcare reimbursement agencies and insurance companies.
In 2010 Safe Orthopaedics, a French medical technology company was founded and soon started to market the Single-use SteriSpine™ Kits CE-marked and FDA cleared in Europe and the United States.They were the first manufacturer to create this New Product Category: “Disposible Single-use Instruments for Spinal Surgery with Sterile Implants”.
They seem to have success and of course they are appealing many companies from different countries to this new market segment. New technologies have given rise to high quality, superior performance instruments now available at a fraction of the cost of traditional reusable devices. The switch to Single-use Spinal products is now taking hold globally.
What are the Benefits of this Disposable products?
- Requires few surgical steps – result is a reduction in procedure time
- No surgical trays, no need to sterilize anything
- Inventory is easy to manage with individual sterile packed implants and instrument kits
- Prevent post-op infection caused by instrument cross-contamination:Instruments and implants are always clean,
- Fully traceable products
Which are the disadvantages of the Single-use instrumentations?
- Implants design is average with not a very low profile and with a short range.
- Instruments are very simple and developped for not very complex surgeries.
- MIS technique is not comparable with current products that have more instruments and give more possibilities.
Conclusion:
From our point of view, it is a very interesting new concept that will become a trend as result of the important benefits in terms of cost reduction for hospitals, distributors, healthcare reimbursement agencies and insurance companies.
But from the surgeon point of view what can we expect? From our opinion, it provides many benefits for them as reduced steps and procedure time but limited to very simple and short instrumentations. Let´s say: “We can not ask for what the product can not give us”. Some surgeons will love it for their simplicity but that others will hate it for their short range of implants and instruments, especially orthopaedic surgeons used to perform complex surgeries with high quality “state of the art” products.
In any case, Single-use Spinal Lumbar Systems are here to stay … for a long time!
Please find all the Single-use Products in:https://thespinemarketgroup.com/category/single-use/
We have already started with the system in the UK since 2014. The system is very flexible and well thought out. We have done complex cases T11-S1 Degen scoli and 6 level traume cases (3 up and 3 down). The implant range is enough for 98% of cases with the options of extended head screws as well. The new patented auto-adjust screw for trauma, which self corrects the kyphosis, is a very clever piece of technology and makes fracture fixation and sagital balance an easy percutanoeus procedure. The nursing staff love the concept and surgeons are beginning to understand that perhaps you dont really need 4 trays of instruments
As a polymer manufacturer, we are seeing a clear trend of the industry moving toward single use / disposable instruments and devices made out of plastics. Not ever instrument can be replaced by plastic but polymers offer interesting opportunities for manufacturing cost reduction, inventory management optimization and risk reduction of hospital acquired infections. Solvay’s Ixef PARA is the ideal polymer for single use instruments and metal replacement for disposable devices.