AOFAS Vancouver Preview: Sneak Peeks from the Exhibit Hall

Product releases before they hit the floor, plus a new social platform for surgeons.

Originally published September 5, 2024 — Arthrex · Enovis · InduceXT · Medline · Stryker

Sneak Peak at Event Product Launches

AOFAS Vancouver, the Superbowl of Orthopedics, is upon us next week in Vancouver. We have a few sneak peaks at some new product releases that will be showcased in the exhibit hall. We also take a look at a new social media platform exclusively for surgeon education.

Thanks for reading, we are very grateful for our community of loyal FANS. We are just shy of 20,000 subscribers which is a mind blowing number for us.

Product managers and marketing specialists, email us with AOFAS new product info for our AOFAS review issue: footandanklenews@gmail.com.

AOFAS Dinner Cruise with InduceXT

Less than 1% of our FAN readers will be attending AOFAS, if you are attending and looking for something besides a steak house like the one at home, we have a unique industry event just for you… from InduceXT!

DINNER CRUISE DETAILS

Join the InduceXT Team for a dinner harbor cruise on the Star of Vancouver. Dr. Sam Adams, MD will share his experience with Induce’s NMP Technology over the last 2 plus years. Following the presentation, Dr. Adams will take to the DJ booth for an unforgettable set with some exceptional views of Vancouver.

Spots are filling up…REGISTER HERE for XT on the SEA!

This Week in FAN

Golden Demobone: Dr. Bradley Abicht
FAN JAMS: A New Playlist from Steve Haddad, MD
Little Guy, Big Idea:15Blades
AOFAS New Product Launches
Restord3D
Paragon28
Enovis
Medline
Arthrex
FAN Resources: Meetings, Podcasts, & More

GOLDEN DEMOBONE AWARD

As we move into AOFAS, we will find that MIS will be a big topic of conversation this year and for the foreseeable future at all academic meetings. So we thought we would spotlight a man dedicated to the MIS craft.

His “Burr Time Production Series” found on his Instagram and LinkedIn pages review the in and outs of MIS all over the foot. These videos are an outstanding resource for those dipping their toe into MIS. Congrats to Dr. Bradley Abicht on winning this week's Golden Dedmobone Award, give him a follow you will not be disappointed.

Featured Post - Burr Time Productions Post

Congrats to Dr. Bradley Abicht! Follow Dr. Abicht now on Instagramand LinkedIn

GOLDEN DEMOBONE HALL OF FAM

Kamran Hamid, MD

@thisiskomron

Jeffery Earhardt, MD @dr_earhart_trauma

Norman A Siddique, DPM @BaltimoreFootDoc

David Dalhstrom, MD @xlr8.sportsmed

Daniel Patton, MD

@theanklefixer

Robert Rozbruch, MD @limblengthening

Alan MacGill, DPM

@alanmacgill

Anish Kadakia, MD

@ankl_man

Kaitlin Neary, MD

@kaitlinnearymd

Kevin Palmer, DPM @kevinpalmerdpm

Jeffrey E. McAlister, DPM @BestAzAnkleDoc

Nicholas Strasser, MD/Jan Szatkowski, MD

Orthopedic Indications - You Tube Channel

FAN JAMS: Playlists of the Foot & Ankle

What do you want to listen to? This is a question that frequently gets asked prior to the start of a case. As a newsletter we are trying to bring content people want to read and solve big problems in healthcare. Indecision on music is the OR is something we are hoping to address.

FAN JAMS is a new Spotify Channel with playlists curated by the foot and ankle community. We will continue to add to the channel and keep a running list on the newsletter.

Our inaugural playlist was created by a true music connoisseur and Foot and Ankle legend, Dr. Steven Haddad, MD. Stevo, as his friends call him, put together a playlist long enough to get you through the most difficult Total Ankle Revision …5 hours of Rock and Roll.

Listen Here: FAN JAMS: Volume 1 - Steve Haddad

LITTLE GUY, BIG IDEA: 15Blades

All of our past “Little Guys” have been hardware companies, enter 15Blades.

15 Blades is a beta-Launched peer to peer medical media educational platform that is HIPPA compliant. They specialize in short form content, videos and posts for microlearning. The goal is to provide physicians with a safe space to encourage discourse of surgical/medical knowledge. Think Instagram for foot and ankle, but no dog or car pictures.

15Blades faces the classic example of the ‘chicken or the egg’ problem encountered by all social media start ups. If you don't have users who engage in the platform, people will not come or stay. Without content this will die. Unique content will be parmount to help this app to thrive. Manager and one of the founders of 15Blades, Dr. David Kim, DPM out of Maryland is working to make that happen with a core group of surgeons.

We are entering a new era of promotion in the medical device world. Followers, Comments, and Likes lead to recognition and I could easily see monetization in the future. Companies see who are posting and want their products in those posts. This could be the training ground for your LinkedIn or Instagram debut. Nothing worse than the dreaded proud post with horrible x-rays!

FAN backs the entrepreneurs of Foot and Ankle and we hope to see this app succeed. Down load the app and check it out. Rip off the bandaid and throw up a post.

DOWNLOAD THE 15BLADES APP

AOFAS NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES: TAR & MIS

MIS and TAR will dominate the meeting again this year both academically and on the commercial side. TheIN PERSON MEETING PROGRAM is jam packed with talks focusing on these procedures.

For MIS, companies will begin to focus more on training as the learning curve can be steep for some surgeons. To add value companies will soon begin to offer patient platforms and direct to patient marketing as chamfered screws and reducers will soon be offered by every major manufacturer.

Midstem Tibia’s will soon be en vogue. Exactech has mid stem options that will soon be commercially available. In addition, you will see the launch of several “mid stem” tibial implants starting first with the market leader Stryker sometime early next year along with Paragon 28. Arthrex and Enovis will have new Ankle Replacement Systems coming in 2025 that we believe will follow this trend. Just when you thought the battle for TAR supremacy was a foregone conclusion, some new entrants will be tossing their hats in the ring.

TAR

Restor3d

Kinos Range Ankle

Restor3d, known for their custom implants, has enhanced their total ankle portfolio by upgrading the original anatomic talus to a constrained version along with some other attractive bells and whistles. We don’t want to get crazy here, but it does make this implant a comprehensive option to those looking to explore outside of the StryWrighter Systems.

Kinos Range

Two features worth commenting on are the 15mm X Stem Tibial Tray, which is a true mid stem direct anterior option. The X Stem offers rotational stability and direct axial loading. Users are required to use a flat cut on the tibia, however no drilling through the heel or cortical window is required for implantation. All Kinos implants are 3D printed using their proprietary Tidal Technology, an optimized porous lattice structure designed for osseointegration.

That leads us into their Axiom PSI system. Instead of a Compressed Nylon composition, like all the other PSI guides on the market, Restor3d prints metal cut guides with a coupled option for ankles without deformity. The guides have the roughened posterior surface that grips versus slides to help find its home.

FEATURES & BENEFITS

X Stem Tibial Tray - 9.5mm and 15mm Tibial Stem Options
Constrained (Range) or Anatomic Talar Options
Highly Cross Linked, Vitamin E Poly
Axiom PSR - 3d Printed Metal, Patient Specific Cut Guides
Tidal Technology for Bony Ingrowth

Paragon28d

Right Angled Drill

Paragon should have called this product the White Whale, for years we have all wondered why there wasn’t a right angled drill for the Inbone. This advancement seems innocuous for a company with a tibial tray with 2 tiny posterior pegs. But if you dig deeper, it means Paragon 28 Anterior Mid Stem Tibia is coming soon.

Check out the x-ray here posted on LinkedIn.

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

Enovis

STAR - e+ Poly

Vilex

Optix - PSI for Hinterman H3

MIS

DJO / Enovis

Tarsoplasty - MIS Lapidus System

When Enovis bought Nova Step, there was a pipeline of products that came with it. Tarsoplasty was one of those assets that is now set to launch. Lapidus Jigs are now a dime a dozen and for many surgeons it comes down to ease of use, rep support, or if the company sends you patients. All very valid reasons.

As the sub sector of MIS focused surgeons grows, Enovis is bringing a solution to the table different from what is currently on the market, a predictable solution that provides surgeons rotation, guided joint prep, and com pression. All through a medially placed jig designed for a solo surgeon that can provide patients with the benefits of percutaneous surgery.

Since MIS reemerged in 2017, the foot & ankle community started off slow to adopt the DMO due to its technically challenging learning curve & ongoing debate of hypermobility's role in treating hallux valgus. The launch of Tarsoplasty signifies the next generation of Lapidus correction & a well timed addition to Pecaplasty, rounding out Enovis Foot & Ankles percutaneous bunion solutions.

Medline

MIS Foot Recon System

Medline Unite is doing what they do best with the launch of their new MIS Foot Recon System . Observe what is available on the market and improve on it. Is this a revolutionary system? No. Is it extremely user friendly and does it offer everything you need in a well packaged set. Absolutely.

The system offers 3 screw diameters (3.0/3.5/4.0) all with 45 degree beveled heads in both fully and partially threaded options. They did toss in some unique MIS instrumentation however, this release will not have a Jig but we are told one is in the works.

Finally, a forward thinking member of the Medline team, came up with a unique plate that is skewed to accommodate both a bail out option if you can’t hit your head with screws or for future revision cases that require an MTP fusion. These plates will probably not provide a royalty that someone will be able to retire on, but we like the creative thought process behind these plates.

Arthrex

MIS Achilles

The king of soft tissue is coming on strong with two modifications to their already market leading technology. Rather than sleeping on their success, Arthrtex hits us with new Speed Bridge options for those looking to up their MIS game.

PARS Achilles Midsubstance SpeedBridge™

Have you ever wondered what would happen if an Arthrex PARS Kit and a Speed Bridge had a baby? Look no further.

The PARS Achilles Midsubstance SpeedBridge™ repair combines the minimal incision locking suture construct PARS technique with two 3.9 mm BioComposite SwiveLock® anchors into the calcaneus for a knotless repair. The newly launched PARS SutureTape provides the user with differentiating colored, collagen-coated 1.3 mm SutureTape, which offers increased resistance to tissue pull-through, stronger knotless fixation, and all-around handling characteristics.

MIS FiberTak® Achilles SpeedBridge™As MIS procedures continue to evolve and become more popularized, procedures like the Zadek have the potential to become a problem for the open Haglunds and a flag shop product for Arthrex, the Speed Bridge. To provide MIS enthusiasts an option Arthtrex has developed a perc option.

The new MIS FiberTak® Achilles SpeedBridge™ Repair Implant System is a novel concept in percutaneous Achilles reattachment following Haglunds debridement. Aiming for optimal wound healing, the system not only reduces the size of implant material but also allows for a percutaneous approach, making it minimally invasive. It provides rigid tendon fixation with improved tendon-to-bone opposition, allowing for immediate postoperative weight-bearing and range of motion.

Stryker

Achilles Repair Implant Kit

Well it finally happened, a company other than Arthrex, packaged a double row Achilles repair kit. How or why it has taken this long is completely absurd based on the market opportunity of Haglund's repair. What does the kit have you ask? For the proximal row, (2) PEEK 4.75 Alpha Vent Twist anchors, Double Loaded with Suture Tape and Needles. The distal row uses PEEK 4.75 knotless Omega Anchors.

Stryker, with Artelon and now a kitted Achilles Kit, has its eyes set on taking some share from Arthrex. Here is a link to their Foot and Ankle Sports Products.