Medtronic Keeps Its Spine Straight & Head Held High with New Collaboration

Medtronic managed to capture attention for its once struggling spine business during the first day of the North American Spine Society 39^th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The Dublin-based company revealed a collaboration with Siemens Healthineers to explore opportunities to further expand access to advanced pre-and post-operative imaging technologies for spine care.

The two companies anticipate co-marketing the Siemens Healthineers Multitom Rax imaging system and integrating the platform into the Medtronic AiBLE ecosystem for spine surgery. The companies also anticipate collaborating across technology development, marketing, and commercial activities

"Partnering with Siemens Healthineers advances our commitment to reduce variability and improve outcomes for spinal patients," said Skip Kiil, president of Medtronic Cranial & Spinal Technologies, which is part of the Medtronic Neuroscience Portfolio. "We are thrilled with the prospect of working with the industry leader in imaging and to leverage the depth of imaging experience and expertise, commercial footprint, and shared commitment to data science to advance our AiBLE strategy and shared pursuit of better patient outcomes."

Medtronic said the partnership will be an evolution of the AiBLE ecosystem which integrates connected care and predictive technology to advance surgery.

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"We are excited about the prospect of partnering with Medtronic to bring our solution to spine centers and empower spine surgeons and neurosurgeons to be more precise in the operating room," said Verena Schoen, Executive Vice President X-ray Products at Siemens Healthineers. "Multitom Rax delivers geometrically accurate images which allows precise measurements of the patient's vertebrae. Especially optimized for spine imaging, it not only contributes to faster diagnosis and treatment planning, but also to surgical execution and post-surgical control."

Medtronic is no stranger to collaborations. In August, the company announced a collaboration with Abbott Laboratories in the diabetes space. The partnership will have the two working on an integrated continuous glucose monitoring system based on Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre technology that will connect with Medtronic’s automated insulin delivery (AID) and smart insulin pen systems.

Findings its Backbone in Spine

In the past, Medtronic has struggled with its spine business. Some of the roadblocks center around the controversial InFuse bone-growth product.  

However, in late May, Medtronic reported high-single-digit growth in spine, which was driven by AI surgical planning, including robotics, and power and surgical instrumentation imaging and navigation.

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Another reason for the uptick in spine is because of recent consolidation in the space. Perhaps the biggest deal in recent history was the merger between Globus Medical and NuVasive. The all-stock transaction created the second largest player in spine – right behind Medtronic.

ZimVie – a spinoff from Zimmer Biomet, sold its spine business to H.I.G. Capital for $375 million. The business is now being called Highridge Medical.