Over 30,000 Of 4WEB Medical’s 3D Printed Truss Implants Currently Being Used Worldwide

Four years ago, 3D printed implant technology provider 4WEB Medical, headquartered in Texas since 2008, announced a major company milestone – over 3,000 of its 3D printed spine truss implants were being used. Since then, the company has rapidly been moving onward and upward, gaining patents and approvals from the FDA, and seeing both its Curved Posterior Spine Truss System and Lateral Spine Truss System successfully used in surgeries.

The company launched its proprietary and patented Truss Implant Technology back in 2012. After three decades of topological dimension theory research, 4WEB Medical discovered a novel geometry, the 4WEB, which can be used as a building block for strong, lightweight web structures. This breakthrough, combined with 3D printing, helped 4WEB Medical develop its proprietary truss implant platform, which also includes the Anterior Spine Truss System, Cervical Spine Truss System, Osteotomy Truss System, and Posterior Spine Truss System.

In January, the company reported record growth sales in 2017, with 57% year-over-year growth in the fiscal year. 4WEB Medical’s fourth quarter results exceeded the largest quarter in company history for revenue, case volume, units sold, and surgeon users. So, if you thought that 3,000 was a big number, just wait for it – the company announced at this week’s annual meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) that it has surpassed 30,000 implants worldwide of its proprietary Truss Implant Technology.

4WEB Medical Implant Portfolio

“We are extremely excited to reach the 30,000 implant milestone with over 650 surgeons having utilized our Truss Implant Technology in just 5 years. The 3D printed implant market has seen exponential growth since 4WEB obtained the first FDA approval for a 3D printed spine implant in 2012,” said Jessee Hunt, 4WEB President and CEO. “Numerous companies have now launched 3D printed implants, but 4WEB has maintained its differentiation in the market due to a lack of design innovation from these new implant manufacturers. Their focus seems to be on micro-porous structures, which are basically a rebrand of the trabecular/porous metal designs from the late 90’s. This is unfortunate as micro-porous metal is intended for fixation rather than fusion. We are proud to offer surgeons a one of a kind open architecture design that improves surgical outcomes in a continually expanding marketplace.”

The company currently offers a portfolio of 3D printed implants, made with 4WEB truss technology, for spinal, foot and ankle, and patient-specific orthopedic surgeries, though it’s also working to develop additional truss implant designs for the hip, knee, and trauma, as well as other patient-specific procedures as there is a continuing demand for its technology.

Posterior Spine Truss System

4WEB’s technology creates a hierarchical surface roughness, from the macro to nano scale, on an open architecture scaffold through 3D printing, using the design mechanics to stimulate healthy bone growth in bordering cellular material. The truss maximizes resistance to subsidence by providing a controlled load distribution, and the open design, according to the company, “broadens the fusion column by up to 75%.”

This winter, 4WEB said that it expected sustained growth this year through continuing adoption of its recent Lateral Spine Truss System and Hyperlordotic ALIF implants.

“We had a strong first quarter of 2018 and are pleased with our growth in terms of revenue, cases, and users.  Our spine business grew 43% in surgeon users while our foot & ankle business increased by 54%,” said Jim Bruty, 4WEB Medical’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Next month we will be expanding our Posterior Spine Truss System to include additional sizes and lordotic angles which will further add momentum to our growth in the quarters to come.”

The company plans to further increase its commercial expansion strategy with these upcoming product launches.

Discuss this news, and other 3D printing topics, at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.