Medtronic has announced the European launch of the new Kyphon Express Curette for scraping or scoring bone in the spine, including during treatment of vertebral compression fractures with minimally invasive Kyphon balloon kyphoplasty.
The Kyphon Express Curette is designed to maximise control when scraping or scoring bone in the spine. This product is available in T-tip with a torque resetting device, which allows easy resetting of the device when the tip encounters excess torsion. It is compatible with the Kyphon Express access tools offering.
This new product is a continuation of the industry-leading advancements Medtronic has made over the past 10 years in the treatment of vertebral compression fractures – the most common osteoporotic fractures coming to clinical attention with an estimated 1,400,000 spinal fractures worldwide every year. Left unrepaired, spinal fractures can cause additional health problems that increase the risk of mortality.
“As the leader and inventor of Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty, Medtronic is committed to the continued advancement of this important and specialized treatment to ensure the best outcomes for patients who suffer from debilitating spinal fractures,” said Alex DiNello, vice president and general manager of the Kyphon Products Division. “Since we introduced balloon kyphoplasty in 2000, an estimated 800,000 fractures have been treated worldwide with Kyphon balloon kyphoplasty by approximately 14,500 trained spine specialists.”
The launch of the new Kyphon Express Curette comes two months after the introduction of the Kyphon Cement Delivery System in Western Europe on September 15, 2010 at Eurospine. This system allows for the controlled delivery of bone cement at a safer distance with a one‰Ûhanded operation, preserving some tactile feel during delivery with the ability to halt bone cement flow on demand with the quick‰Ûrelease button.
The Kyphon Express Curette was launched in the United States in October 2010.
