Customer Excitement at the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) Scientific Conference in Las Vegas
In May 2021, Michael Marcroft, SINTX VP of Business Development, attended the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons Scientific Conference to meet with several companies and discuss the potential of silicon nitride in foot osteotomy and fusion.
It was an exciting week for SINTX, filled with positive feedback and significant interest from potential customers, many of whom expressed a desire for further collaboration. SINTX showed several prototype foot osteotomy designs with laser texturing that should enable superior bone fusion and healing. Foot osteotomy and fusion procedures are performed to address fractures, bunions, hammertoe, or flat foot conditions. In these procedures, bone is cut and reshaped to alleviate pain, and implant materials such as PEEK and titanium are currently used to facilitate bone fusion. Silicon nitride’s osteogenic characteristics combined with its antibacterial properties make it a strong consideration as an implant material in this market. Surgeons are always looking for ways to improve outcomes and reduce the potential for complications from procedures or follow-up. More than 40,000 SINTX silicon nitride devices have been used since 2008 as spinal implants in the US, Brazil, Europe, and Taiwan, with great success.
This long-term success with silicon nitride spinal implants has made it easy for surgeons and customers in the foot and ankle specialty to understand the natural progression to the development of silicon
nitride implants for foot osteotomy and fusion procedures. This is due to strong similarities between the intended use of spine implants and foot osteotomy wedge implants. Both implants are intended to provide bone fixation and facilitate fusion. The excitement around the potential use of silicon nitride as a new implant material seen at the 2021 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons conference was fantastic and we are looking forward to follow-up discussions with the prominent customers we spoke to. To learn more about
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