AUSTIN, Texas, May 21, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ —Genesys Spine is pleased to announce that the company’s BINARY Anterior Cervical Plate has been selected as a finalist in the Implant and Tissue-Replacement Products category of the 18th Annual Medical Design Excellence Awards competition. Finalists were officially announced in the May Issue of MD+DI (Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry) magazine. Winners will be announced at the 2015 MDEA Ceremony held Tuesday, June 9, 2015 in conjunction with the MD&M East event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
The BINARY Anterior Cervical Plate was designed to reduce the number of tools and steps required in cervical spine surgery and reduce patient time on the operating table. While there are competing products on the market, those systems tend to require additional instruments and surgical steps, as well as an additional plate or mechanism to hold the screws in place, all of which lead to extended time in surgery and the need for additional anesthesia. The new BINARY Plating System incorporates patented Helios Technology from Genesys Spine, which is a combination of counter rotation functionality, anti-backout functionality, and what Genesys called the “Zero-Step” feature: A clever ratcheted screw-head system that locks into place in the head of the screws with a notable click.
The MDEA is the medtech industry’s premier design competition committed to searching worldwide for the highest-caliber finished medical devices, products, systems, or packaging available on the market. The awards program celebrates the achievements of the medical device manufacturers, their suppliers, and the many people behind the scenes””engineers, scientists, designers, and clinicians””who are responsible for the cutting-edge products that are saving lives, improving patient healthcare, and transforming medtech””one innovation at a time. 
“We are pleased to be selected as an MDEA Finalist. Being selected as a finalist is a testament to the skill, dedication and innovation of our design team, our engineering team and our vendors, who took this product from a design concept to an FDA-approved device,” said Josh Kaufmann, Genesys Spine principal.
Entries are judged by an impartial panel of medtech experts. Unlike other design competitions that are merely styling contests, the MDEA jury is comprised of a balance of practicing doctors, nurses, and technicians alongside industrial designers, engineers, manufacturers, and human factors experts. MDEA jurors comprehensively review entries based on the following criteria:
- The ability of the product development team to overcome all challenges so the product meets its clinical objectives;
- Innovative use of materials, components, and processes;
- User-related functions improving healthcare delivery and changing traditional medical attitudes or practices;
- Features providing enhanced benefits to the patient and end-user in relation to clinical efficacy;
- Manufacturing cost-effectiveness and profitability;
- Healthcare system benefits, such as improved accessibility, efficacy, or safety, in addition to providing attention to a critical unmet clinical need.
The 2015 MDEA Juror Panel selected 45 exceptional finalists in 10 medical technology product categories. Products were judged based on design and engineering innovation; function and user- related innovation; patient benefits; business benefits; and overall benefit to the healthcare system.
“The design goal with the BINARY anterior cervical plate was to have elegance in simplicity; while minimizing the extra steps and distractions for the physician, said Brian J. Bergeron, vice president of Engineering for Genesys Spine. “The BINARY system allows the surgeon to place screws with greater angulation and engage the lock, without any extra steps or instrumentation.”
The BINARY System is an example of Genesys Spine’s commitment to innovation for anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF) procedures. The system not only offers the patented Zero-Step Helios Locking technology, but also has an expanded-range of screw angulations, allowing the physician to position a shorter plate for the patient’s individual surgical needs while maintaining plate margin from the adjacent disc. In a study by Lee et Al, literature shows this methodology may lower the incidence of Adjacent-Level Ossification Development (ALOD) or bone growth next to the treated level. (Lee DH, Lee JS, Yi JS, Cho W, Zebala LP, Riew KD. Anterior cervical plating technique to prevent adjacent-level ossification development. Spine J. 2013 Jul;13(7):823-9)
Winners will be announced on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at MD&M East’s main networking event””the 2015 Medical Design Excellence Awards ceremony. MD+DI will recognize the finalists and announce the Bronze, Silver, and Gold winners in each of the 10 medtech categories, as well as present the Readers’ Choice, Best-In-Show, Lifetime Achievement Awards, and more. RSVP during MD&M East registration to reserve a ticket. Admission is free but donations are encouraged to benefit NCIIA’s BMEidea, a design competition for biomedical engineering university students. Winners also will be announced at the ceremony.