Robotic technology company THINK Surgical and United Orthopedic Corporation are collaborating to improve total knee replacement procedures.
Five things to know:
1. The companies announced their collaboration at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2019 annual meeting, March 12-16 in Las Vegas.
2. The partnership will involve THINK's Active Robotic System and United's U2 Knee System. Joint marketing will incorporate each system into a packaged offering for orthopedic surgeons.
3. The Active Robotic System consists of a 3D presurgical planning workstation and the Active Robot, a computer-assisted tool. The system's use in total knee arthroplasty is the subject of a TKA investigational device exemption study, which has completed patient enrollment with FDA clearance expected in 2019.
4. The U2Knee System has been commercially available in the U.S. since 2006, and has been implanted in more than 140,000 cases in 39 nations. The system reduces the number of required trays from 6 to 1.5.
5. United will serve as THINK's exclusive distributor in Taiwan and designate Taiwan as a center of excellence for their combined platforms. The companies will cooperatively develop implants for active robotic surgeries to provide an alternative to current total joint replacement procedures.