In 2021, Medtronic spent time strengthening its spine business and identified areas to grow technology.
Here are five things to know:
1. In the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, Medtronic saw slight revenue dips in its cranial and spinal technology business and its spine and biologics business. However, the neurosurgery segment grew at a high single-digit percentage year over year.
"Our second-quarter results reflect focused execution of our strategy and the strong underlying health of the business, despite the market impact of the pandemic resurgence and healthcare system staffing challenges on medical procedure volumes, particularly in the U.S., which affected our quarterly revenue growth," CEO Geoff Martha said in a Nov. 23 news release.
2. Medtronic's spine business is growing in the minimally invasive surgery space. In September, three products were added to its portfolio: the Catalyft PL and PL40 interbody systems, the Space-D access system and Accelerate Graft Delivery System with Grafton DBF system.
3. Harry "Skip" Kiil was appointed head of Medtronic's cranial and spine business in November, and he stepped into the role Jan. 4. His responsibilities include driving innovation and delivering therapies to global markets more effectively. Before being named head of the spine division, Mr. Kiil was head of global orthopedics at Smith+Nephew.
4. Data will be a key area of focus in the future, Mr. Martha said in a January 2021 conference call. The company's acquisition of Medicrea is designed to help the company leverage data and artificial intelligence in preoperative planning.
"This is the new frontier for medtech, and we are leading our industry in collecting datasets and developing algorithms," he said.
5. Medtronic's patient-specific UNiD Rods were cleared for use with the company's CD Horizon, Solera, Voyager and Infinity OCT spinal systems in June. The rods are pre-bent before surgery to match a preoperative plan created with AI.