ApiFix featured in Israel21c
ApiFix, a Misgav Venture Accelerator company, was featured in Israel21c. Scoliosis solution
By Abigail Klein Leichman
Israel21c (April 15, 2012) A medical device from Israel will allow for less invasive, cheaper and more effective correction of severe spinal curvature. No matter how many times their parents may tell them to "stand up straight," thousands of teens with a severe form of the spinal curvature called scoliosis can't do so without costly six-hour surgery -- and even then, the deformity may not be perfectly corrected. Straightening the spine is going to get much simpler when Israel's new ApiFix implant passes successfully through the trials and approvals stages. ApiFix involves minimally invasive surgery, which minimizes risks, scar size, complications, recovery time and cost. ApiFix system incorporates a miniature ratchet mechanism that enables incremental changes over several months, resulting in a better outcome than the standard procedure that costs upward of $100,000. "One of the limits of the technology to correct scoliosis today is the need to make a correction in one surgery," says ApiFix founder Uri Arnin, a medical devices designer. "When you do it this way, you can properly address the bony element of the spine but you ignore the soft tissue -- the ligaments and muscles that work against the correction you want to perform. Soft tissues take time to become flexible. If you do it over a period of days or weeks, they relax enough to realign themselves in the correct position." This was the concept he presented a year and a half ago to Dr. Yizhar Floman, a leading Israeli back surgeon. "We'd know each other more than 10 years, and have cooperated in other spinal projects," Arnin tells ISRAEL21c. The two men pooled their engineering and medical expertise to create a device geared toward adolescent patients. "Younger ligaments are easier to manipulate and the quality of the bone is much better," Arnin explains.
The ApiFix system was also featured on the following sites:
NO CAMELS Israeli Innovation News (May 14, 2012) "New Minimally Invasive System For Spinal Correction"
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