Medtronic announced that it has entered a global partnership with Siemens Healthineers this week at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting in Chicago. The companies plan to co-market Siemens Healthineers' Multitom Rax imaging system and integrate it into Medtronic's AiBLE ecosystem for spine surgery.

"As game-changing as AiBLE is today, we continue to innovate the ecosystem to further enhance the quality of care for patients with spinal conditions," Skip Kiil, president of Medtronic Cranial & Spinal Technologies, told HCB News. "With standing, weight-bearing imaging, cone-beam CT, and supine X-ray capabilities, the Multitom Rax supports Medtronic’s commitment to advancing the standard of care across the care continuum through the addition of pre- and postoperative imaging to the AiBLE ecosystem."

AiBLE is a smart ecosystem consisting of navigation, robotics, data and AI, imaging, software, and implants that help create more predictable outcomes for spine and cranial procedures. At the meeting, Medtronic also announced that software, hardware, and imaging advancements were made to the ecosystem.

"We believe that the procedural needs of spine surgery and cranial surgery are markedly different from orthopedic procedures and are focused on a ‘fit-for-purpose’ ecosystem that has been designed and developed to optimize cranial and spine procedural needs," said Kiil. "Our spine growth has accelerated over the past couple of years because surgeons are embracing technologies that work together to provide more predictable outcomes."

The company has introduced its O-arm 4.3 software, which allows for advanced navigation volumes, dose reduction, and improved image confirmation. It's the first and only intraoperative imager that leverages AI and lessens the radiation dose by 70% compared to the standard protocol while preserving image quality, according to an image comparison study that was conducted for the system's 510(k) clearance.

The UNiD Adaptive Spine Intelligence integrate service and software platform was also introduced. It uses AI and predictive models to aid surgeons in delivering patient-specific surgical plans and implants. It now features the MRI Vision tool, which uses computer vision technology to automatically evaluate lumbar MRs to segment, label, and measure important aspects that relate to common pathologies.

An advancement was made to the Mazor robotic guidance system, which is a spinal robotic system that combines AI, bone cutting, and grade delivery. Its new 5.1 software includes Maximum Intensity Projection to improve the image quality.

The last addition to the ecosystem is the ModuLeX Spine System. It allows surgeons to maintain better visualization of the surgical area while creating an optimized construct for the patient.

"Today, we have solid capabilities and connectivity throughout the patient journey," said Kiil. "The goal is to have end-to-end connectivity with predictive capabilities that extend throughout the care continuum from diagnosis through recovery and healing."

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