joimax® faculty member Dr. Albert Telfeian performs 1st endoscopic removal of a thoracic spinal tumor

We are proud to share this story about our joimax® faculty member Dr. Albert Telfeian and how he was able to help 17-year old Jenelle “Nelly” Camara who was suffering from a spinal tumor.

Already in 2014, Dr. Telfeian removed a thumb-sized tumor pressing the girl’s spine cord. The pathology was sent for identification but even the best U.S. labs weren’t able to figure out what the tumor was. Camara underwent radiation therapy and was free of symptoms for a while. But the tumor resumed growth soon and she and her family returned to Dr. Telfeian at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

This time the surgeon decided to use an endoscopic approach with the girl under local anaesthetic. With Camara being awake during surgery, Dr. Telfeian was able to ask her to move her legs which is an important control for the surgeon operating in such close proximity to the spinal cord. With a tiny 8-millimeter incision on her back and specialized endoscopic instruments he was able to do a biopsy on the tumor without removing bony material like in the first surgery.

Within a week the family received a diagnosis which now allows a targeted therapy for Camara who will be able to return to school and cheerleading in fall this year.
Read all the details about how endoscopy helped to identify Camara’s tumor in this article.

NBC also featured the story in NBC 10 News. 

A scientific paper (case report) about the procedure was published online in the journal, Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, and will appear in the July 2015 issue.

joimax® workshops continue to proof as highly efficient and successful in the education of surgeons worldwide

As the second step of the joimax® CM3 Education Program, surgeons are trained on joimax® methods during hands-on cadaver workshops taking place throughout the year in different locations and countries.
The typical workshop agenda includes theoretical sessions with expert lectures from joimax® Faculty members as well as practical sessions on human cadavers. The feedback joimax® receives from the trained doctors after each workshop and the increasing number of workshop registrants speak for themselves. “When we analyze the feedback forms after each course we find that participants highly value the hands-on time which also allows them to discuss with the instructors as well as the opportunity to share experience with surgeons that are new to endoscopy.” says Monika Gensert, Senior Product and Education Manager at joimax®.

From January to May 2015, joimax® organized and conducted four workshops in Germany and Austria and another four workshops in the US. In Europe alone joimax® trained 60 surgeons from various countries and disciplines. Surgeons can chose between basic and advanced courses which differ in the complexity of the techniques taught, i.e. the EndoLIF®, iLESSYS® stenosis and CESSYS® approach is only trained in advanced workshops.
Additionally, joimax® technologies were part of 4 DWG (German Spine Society) Modules for Board Certification of spine surgeons.
At the US workshops, whose attendees exclusively come from the US and Mexico, another 43 surgeons were instructed on TESSYS®, Multiuse, iLESSYS®, Percusys® and EndoLIF®.
“The workshop was excellent, with lots of great input from the joimax® team, as well as from the faculty surgeons.” stated a US-workshop attendee.

Your next opportunity to join one of our workshops will be in Mainz, Germany on June 19-20 and in Dallas, Texas, US on July 18. For more workshop dates click here.

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US workshop with joimax® Faculty Dr. Daniel Laich, Irvine, CA, US, March 2015

joimax® at CAOS in Beijing, China

The 8th Annual Congress of the Chinese Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (CAOS) was held at the Beijing International Convention Center, Beijing, China on May 7-10.
joimax® joined this important international event both as an exhibitor and as an education partner.
CAOS, in collaboration with NASS, created the “Techniques in Complex Spine Surgery” program which featured six 1-hour live technique demonstrations, two 3-hour hands-on cadaver workshops, and five lectures with discussion. As expert support for this exciting program, CAOS invited two members of the joimax® Faculty Team: Dr. Guntram Krzok, Friedrichroda, Germany and Dr. Ralf Wagner, Frankfurt, Germany.
The two surgeons delivered well-visited lectures and demonstrated the joimax® TESSYS® technique. As a highlight of the event, the technique demonstrations were shared via webcast and more than 1000 surgeons viewed the program in the Beijing convention hall. More than 26,000 surgeons, surgical nurses and technicians viewed the demos online which enabled maximum visibility for joimax and its technologies.

The joimax® team members who supported the event on-site were deeply impressed by the strong interest in the latest spine surgery systems coming from many Chinese surgeons. Needless to say China is the largest medical market in the world and joimax® will continue to strengthen its relationship with local partners and training centers.

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Live webcast during joimax® TESSYS® technique demonstration at CAOS 2015.