SpineGuard appointed Kris Kumar the United States marketing director.
Here are five things to know about Mr. Kumar:
1. Mr. Kumar has more than 20 years of experience in the medical device industry, including positions with Zimmer, Synthes, Johnson & Johnson's DePuy and Kyphon. His positions include product development engineering, product management, sales and marketing leadership.
"Kris' hands-on experience in developing and marketing new technologies in spine and general orthopedics will help us leverage our unique product offering, our burgeoning clinical evidence and our network of key opinion leaders and teaching institutions," said Co-Founder and CEO of SpineGuard Pierre Jerome.
2. This appointment will strengthen SpineGuard's U.S. team and further drive adoption of the PediGuard in pedicle screw placement. The company — founded in 2009 by former Medtronic Sofamor Danek and SpineVision executives — is based in San Francisco as well as Paris. The company also hopes to expand their bone-monitoring platform.
3. Mr. Kumar is excited to join SpineGuard because of the technology's potential to improve spine surgery outcomes. "The PediGuard devices improve implant placement accuracy, while significantly decreasing radiation exposure for the surgeon, hospital, staff and patient. Also, with the plethora of clinical evidence already generated, SpineGuard is well-positioned for significant growth," he said in a company news release.
4. More than 30,000 procedures have been performed with PediGuard, and peer-reviewed medical journals have published studies demonstrating that PediGuard detects 98 percent of pedicle breaches. Average screw placement accuracy is 97 percent, versus 92 percent for average navigation, and the device limits radiation exposure by 25 percent to 30 percent. Pedicle screw placement is also decreased 15 percent when using PediGuard.
5. The global spine device market is valued to reach $14.8 billion by 2017, according to a MarketsandMarkets report, growing 5.1 percent annually. It was at $11.5 billion in 2012 and shows preferences toward new technologies, such as vertebral compression fracture treatment products, disc replacements and other developments to shorten procedure and recovery time as well as promote less invasive surgery.
More Articles on Spine Surgery:
5 Points on Spinal Fusion Length of Stay: ACDF
20 Spine Surgeons Leading ASCs
Medtronic's $22M Infuse Settlement: 5 Things to Know