Medtronic launched the Mazor X Stealth Edition in the U.S.
Four things to know:
1. Medtronic co-developed the technology with Mazor Robotics, a company it fully acquired last year. The technology incorporates Medtronic's Stealth software with Mazor X, a robotic-assisted spine surgery platform that includes image guidance and navigation.
2. The first procedures using the system were performed at Louisville, Ky.-based Norton Healthcare and Reston (Va.) Hospital Center.
3. Medtronic received FDA clearance for Mazor X Stealth Edition in November 2018 and expects to launch the system in key regions throughout the year.
"As part of our surgical synergy strategy, we believe Mazor X Stealth Edition will accelerate the advancement and adoption of robotic-assisted and navigated surgical technologies in spine," said Geoff Martha, executive vice president and president of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic. "Medtronic is committed to transforming the future of spine care by offering procedural solutions that integrate implants, biologics and enabling technologies like navigation, 3-D imaging, robotics and powered surgical tools."
4. During an interview with Jim Cramer at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak touted Mazor X Stealth Edition as a new innovation, just getting started. "What Medtronic can do is take a product like that and company like that and scale it at a speed that that company alone cannot reach. It's more restricted to spinal procedures, but spinal procedures are one of the biggest healthcare challenges and in planning those procedures and the implementation of those procedures and the guidance of the implants, this is an invaluable product and that's what we will drive," he said.