Q2 2020

20 GHP / Q2 2020 , German Engineering Strengthens The Spine Within the human skeletal architecture, the spine is the central supporting structure. It is, quite literally, the backbone of the body, supporting the upright posture and organizing the body to enable our free and agile movement. However, when things go wrong, it is best to call in the experts. Recognized in last years’ Technology Awards, GHP awarded German firm Orthobion GmbH the title of Spinal Treatment Developers of the Year 2019. Now, we profile the firm to learnmore about it. Founded in 2009 in the southwestern German city of Konstanz, Orthobion is a privately funded start-up whose expertise lies in spinal treatment options, particularly that of spinal fusion devices. Ensuring the spine is properly functioning and supported is key to so many aspects of daily life, that perhaps many of us take for granted – until a serious lumbar disc herniation or a traumatic loss disturbs this function. Patients then have to hope for a surgery to stabilize the vertebral connection but ensuring that the inserted device connects to the bone and integrates properly is not an easy task. Here, Orthobion has pioneered with innovative ideas and thorough German engineering, creating compatible implants with special surface treatment options to secure bone-to-implant ingrowth. Their work especially within the field of coated biomaterials and interface engineering for spinal fusion implants has resulted in truly award-winning technology that created optimized biomimetic devices. Medical technology is a part of healthcare that livers from permanent innovation, as businesses and scientists search for ways to improve the lives of patients in ways that would have unimaginable just a few decades ago. In the field of spinal fusion, Orthobion is driving innovation through novel implants designs and surface modulation to help secure the success of any spinal fusion surgery. Today, these implants bring together the best solutions science has to offer, fused by engineering skills and scientific cooperation of the team at Orthobion. Spinal implants need mechanical flexibility adapted to the neighboring bone to secure the bone-to-implant connection and protect the bone from unwanted impact. Titanium is a premium material due to excellent osteo-conducive properties, but the biocompatible high- tech polymer PEEK has better mechanical properties equivalent to vertebral bone. Orthobion has managed to combine a thin and stable layer of titanium with an optimized PEEK body with an innovative coating technology that ensures life-long function. Crucially, Orthobion also seeks to maintain radiolucency in all implants to ensure imaging techniques pick up everything they need to. Then, they pioneered in testing their devices in clinical studies, long before the novel medical device directive demands this practice. The success confirmed their strategy. But implant integration depends on many factors, from patient’s bone physiology to individual behavior. Working together with in vitro-testing experts like the BioMed Center Innovation in Bayreuth, Jan20380 they fine-tuned the surface and keep on doing so, improving the body reaction and osteointegration, the firm anchoring into the spinal bone. The Orthobion team of innovative engineers extends its workbench by intensively cooperating with scientific partners with an open mind that has won them several cutting-edge technologies. Scientific progress that now is available for properly the most advanced and best-tested spinal products on the market – a trick only a agile SME can perform. Orthobion also believes strongly in the continuous improvement of its spinal products performance. Their strategy are short innovation cycles to continuously generate new products to help even more people. This also means more time spent on the strong integration of partners and on maintaining constant excellence in manufacturing, research, and development. When we visited the company, we met a qualified team working hard to bring a wealth of creativity, responsibility, and entrepreneurship to each product, with the mission that there is always a way to make people’s lives better through spinal surgery. As the spinal surgery market will continue to grow exponentially, and offer people new ways of addressing longstanding problems, Orthobion will grow with it. This company is dedicated to designing, manufacturing, developing, and researching new ways in which spinal surgery can be further improved, with the goal of improving the lives of so many individuals in deeply personal ways. As the team celebrates this latest success, it is sure to achieve many more in the future. Contact: Andreas Ottenschläger Email: andreas.ottenschlaeger@ orthobion.com Website: www.orthobion.com