NuVasive Proprietary Porous PEEK Technology Used In First XLIF Spine Surgery Cases

NuVasive Inc. today announced the first-case uses of Cohere XLIF, the first-of-its-kind lateral Porous PEEK implant for XLIF and lateral single-position surgery. The NuVasive Advanced Materials Science implant portfolio will remain on the forefront of innovation by incorporating Porous PEEK technology into its implants for lateral single-position surgery and beyond.
 
Adhering to the three core principles of its Advanced Materials Science portfolio—Surface, Structure, and Imaging—NuVasive has pioneered design and manufacturing methods that combine the inherent benefits of porosity with the advantageous material properties of PEEK to create implants intelligently designed for fusion. In addition, this new spinal implant is now part of the ongoing NuVasive prospective multicenter study to evaluate advanced implant technologies in XLIF procedures, which was announced in September 2018. 
 
“It is exciting to add the Cohere XLIF implant to our armamentarium to improve patient outcomes,” said Dr. Frank Phillips, professor and director, Section of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, and director, Division of Spine Surgery, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “This cage provides the advantages of ideal stiffness and excellent radiographic visualization of fusion progress, as well as robust science validating the advantages of Porous PEEK in providing surface architecture that was designed to allow bone in-growth.” 
 
Cohere XLIF is the first product launch for XLIF and lateral single-position surgery applications using Porous PEEK technology. NuVasive is the only medical device company to offer porous interbody technology across both PEEK (Cohere and Coalesce) and titanium materials (Modulus implant family), thereby addressing the spectrum of surgeons’ needs and preferences for interbody implants. The Porous PEEK technology featured in Cohere implants is designed to facilitate bone in-growth^1,2 and has been shown to promote improved early clinical outcomes over smooth PEEK and allograft implants.³ Cohere implants are manufactured through a proprietary extrusion process which results in a unified and durable porous-to-solid structure. 
 
“The transition from smooth PEEK to Cohere XLIF has been seamless. In my experience, workflow and imaging properties are essentially the same, and neither impaction forces nor graft containment have been compromised,” said Dr. Anthony Kwon, board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon, Charlotte Orthopedic Hospital. “Overall, it’s a great product that combines the favorable biomechanics of XLIF with the additional advantage of potential bony in-growth into the porous structure of the implant.”
 
Cohere XLIF was developed from the patented technology NuVasive acquired from Vertera in September 2017. After adding Vertera’s existing FDA-cleared products to the company’s commercial offerings, the proprietary technology is now being incorporated into NuVasive’s broader interbody portfolio. 
 
“Imagine an implant that promotes improved early outcomes over smooth PEEK and allograft, while maintaining the stiffness and imaging properties that we value in PEEK,” said Matt Link, president of NuVasive. “This is what we have available today through our Cohere XLIF, Cohere Cervical, and Coalesce implants, and we look forward to extending this technology to additional applications in the future.” 
 
NuVasive Inc. is focused on transforming spine surgery and beyond with minimally disruptive, procedurally integrated solutions designed to deliver reproducible and clinically-proven surgical outcomes. The San Diego, Calif.-based company’s portfolio includes access instruments, implantable hardware, biologics, software systems for surgical planning, navigation and imaging solutions, magnetically adjustable implant systems for spine and orthopedics, and intraoperative monitoring service offerings. With more than $1 billion in revenues, NuVasive has approximately 2,600 employees and operates in more than 50 countries serving surgeons, hospitals and patients.

References
¹ Evans NT, Torstrick FB, Lee CS, et al. High strength, surface porous polyether-ether-keytone for load bearing orthopedic implants. Acta Biomater 2015;13:159-67.
² Torstrick FB, Safranski DL, Burkus JK, et al. Getting PEEK to stick to stick to bone: The development of porous PEEK for interbody fusion devices. Techniques in Orthopaedics 2017;32(3):158-66.
³ Hill CP, Strenge KB. Early clinical outcomes comparing porous PEEK, smooth PEEK, and structural allograft interbody devices for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. J Spine Neurosurg 2019;8:2.