Dive Brief:
- Medtronic and Siemens Healthineers have partnered to expand access to pre- and post-operative imaging technologies for spine surgery, the companies said Wednesday at the North American Spine Society annual meeting.
- The firms will co-market Siemens Healthineers’ Multitom Rax X-ray imaging system and integrate it into Medtronic’s AiBLE suite of products for spine surgery.
- Skip Kiil, Medtronic’s president of cranial and spinal technologies, said in a statement the partnership should reduce variability and improve patient outcomes.
Dive Insight:
Medtronic’s AiBLE system uses robotics, imaging and navigation tools for spine and cranial surgeries. It consists of Medtronic’s Mazor robotic guidance system, StealthStation navigation system, O-arm imaging and an artificial intelligence model to help surgeons measure images and plan surgeries.
CEO Geoff Martha told investors in August that the system helped grow Medtronic’s spine business by about 7% in its first fiscal quarter compared to the year-ago period.
Siemens Healthineers’ Multitom Rax is an X-ray system that positions itself using robotic arms. It can also be used for 3D bone imaging, fluoroscopic and interventional imaging.
Verena Schoen, Siemens Healthineers’ executive vice president of X-ray products, said the system allows for precise measurements of the patient’s vertebrae and is optimized for spine imaging.
In addition to integrating their systems, Siemens Healthineers and Medtronic also expect to work together on technology development, marketing and commercial activities.
The partnership comes as other orthopedics firms are adding their own surgical robots for spine procedures. Johnson & Johnson rolled out its Velys spine system for planning spinal fusion procedures in August, and Stryker plans to launch a spine robot in the fourth quarter.