Medshape out of Atlanta, GA is bringing to market its ExoShape Soft Tissue Fastener for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructive surgery.
The device was offered to a limited number of sports medicine surgeons last year for evaluation and for refinement of the procedure.
From the announcement:
ExoShape’s enhanced design supports reconstruction techniques as they continue to evolve to more accurately replicate the complex functionality of the native ACL. It employs a unique non-rotational deployment technique that preserves the surgeon’s desired graft bundle orientation and tension during single tunnel-double bundle procedures.
When used with soft tissue grafts, traditional interference screws exhibit low ultimate yield loads and can damage the graft during insertion. In an attempt to overcome these issues, surgeons have turned to “sheath-and-screw” devices that offer improved graft fixation and graft protection. However, these solutions may continue to compromise graft bundle orientation due to the sheath rotating within the tibial tunnel, as significant manual torque is required to drive the screw into the sheath and achieve adequate interference fixation of the graft. The need to drive screws into these devices in a direction counter to the desired direction of graft tension may also introduce undesirable laxity into the graft construct.
When used with soft tissue grafts, traditional interference screws exhibit low ultimate yield loads and can damage the graft during insertion. In an attempt to overcome these issues, surgeons have turned to “sheath-and-screw” devices that offer improved graft fixation and graft protection. However, these solutions may continue to compromise graft bundle orientation due to the sheath rotating within the tibial tunnel, as significant manual torque is required to drive the screw into the sheath and achieve adequate interference fixation of the graft. The need to drive screws into these devices in a direction counter to the desired direction of graft tension may also introduce undesirable laxity into the graft construct.
Press release: MedShape, Inc. Announces Full Commercial Release of ExoShape® Soft Tissue Fastener
Product page: ExoShape