NASS News: Nanovis Launches Expanded FortiCore Line of Interbody Fusion Devices

Bigger isn’t always better in the trade show universe.

Consider, for instance, the North American Spine Society’s (NASS) 30^th Annual Meeting this past week, held in Chicago, Ill. A record 340 companies showcased their wares in an expansive third-floor exhibition hall in McCormick Place, including many of the orthopedic industry’s largest players: Stryker Corp., Zimmer Biomet, DePuy Synthes, Globus Medical, NuVasive Inc., Orthofix  and RTI Surgical.

Yet only one of those heavy hitters—DePuy Synthes—garnered some publicity through a new product launch. The others simply displayed and/or demonstrated their latest innovations to potential customers; Stryker, for example, treated passers-by to live stagings of its recently released SpineMask Non-Invasive Tracker and SpineMap 3-D Software (which incidentally, took place in the shadow of its neighbor, Zimmer Biomet).

Thus, it was left to the smaller companies to make the biggest waves at this year’s event. And life sciences firm Nanovis created a decent swell with the expansion of its FortiCore platform, unveiling at the NASS event a wedge-shaped lordotic cervical cage and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) device with increased scaffolding.  

Nanovis’ FortiCore implants, according to company executives, combine the benefits of PEEK (polyether ether ketone) and titanium to create scientifically advanced interbody fusion devices. The 9-year-old company has implanted more than 400 FortiCore devices throughout the United States.
 
FortiCore interbody fusion devices are composed of a PEEK center with a deeply porous titanium scaffold. PEEK Optima (made by Invibio) also is injection molded into the scaffold for optimal integration. This unique combination of technologies is designed to increase positive outcomes in spinal fusion procedures with the imaging capabilities preferred by surgeons.
 
“Layered PEEK and titanium has a distinct advantage in the orthopedic sector. A scientifically advanced approach that is fundamentally different from legacy titanium, PEEK, and surface coated implants,” Nanovis CEO Matt Hedrick told Orthopedic Design & Technology on the NASS exhibit floor. “We looked at a lot of different technologies. We considered plasma spray, but there have been concerns historically about plasma sprays in the hip and knee market and that raised some cautions in our minds. We wanted to create a nice, soft scaffold that wouldn’t create any major concerns. Bone cells attach to titanium easier than they attach to PEEK, so titanium gives you a better biological response. And that was what we were looking for. We wanted to create fundamentally differentiated implants.”
 
Nanovis’ FortiCore interbody fusion devices include cervical and TLIF implants as well as the FortiFix pedicle screw system and FortiBridge cervical plate system.
 
Founded in 2006, Nanovis developscervical and lumbar interbody fusion devices. The company is based in Carmel, Ind.