Author: Antonio Berlen

joimax® Rolls Out Its Endoscopic Generation 4 Devices and Showcases New 3D-Printed Titanium Implants at the German Spine Society (DWG) Convention

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

Karlsruhe (GER) / Irvine, CA – December 6, 2018 – joimax®, the Germany-based market leader of technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic minimally-invasive spinal surgery, is well positioned for Germany’s principal spine convention, German Spine Society (DWG), taking place December 6 to 8 in Wiesbaden, Germany.

This year, joimax® is focusing on their Endoscopic Tower Generation 4 Devices, an expert solution for spinal surgery. They will showcase the new Camsource® LED, a fully integrated camera and light source system that delivers brilliant images up to 4K; and the Vitegra®, the integrated visualization, documentation and commanding device. This marks the global launch of both devices, including in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Moreover, joimax® will exhibit its EndoLIF® product line: the well-known 3D-printed EndoLIF® O/On-Cage, the EndoLIF® Delta Cage, and the EndoLIF® Double Wedge Cage (approval expected shortly).

“The main advantage of the EndoLIF® Implants is the gentle and atraumatic access via gradual tissue dilatation — muscles remain intact and infection risk is reduced. Using 3D-printing technology, an open diamond cell structure, and a rough and porous surface, leads to optimal bone ingrowth, stability and finally fusion,” states Wolfgang Ries, Founder and CEO of the joimax® Group. “Even awake, fusion with very fast patient recovery has started to be realized on the base of endoscopic minimally-invasive techniques.”

Additionally, joimax®  will show Intracs® em, the first complete electromagnetic navigation system for endoscopic minimally invasive spine surgery. Intracs® is an easy to set up, user-friendly system that can serve as a stand-alone device. It relies on electromagnetic tracking and was designed specifically for simple and safe access to any spinal target. It’s the only device on the market that allows for simultaneous navigation of multiple instruments such as needles, guiding rods, reamers, and endoscopes, also developed by joimax®.

Besides an expanded booth presence with daily Meet-the-Expert Sessions, joimax® will again host two lunch symposiums on endoscopic spinal procedures: one covering endoscopic pain therapy, and the other addressing diverse intracanal surgical treatment modalities, including endoscopic fusion.

Joimax, Endoscopic spine surgery, Minimally invasive, Transforaminal, Interlaminar, Training and Education, EndoLIF Implants, Navigation, Generation4, next Generation, tower, endoscopic

joimax® Unveils New Website, Celebrates 20 Years of TESSYS® at Global Spine Congress (GSC) in Bangkok

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

KARLSRUHE, Germany – (BUSINESS WIRE) – German-based joimax®, the market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, announces the launch of its new website alongside a significant presence at the Global Spine Congress (GSC) in Bangkok, May 15 – 18. This dual celebration marks a pivotal moment for the company as it showcases its latest product innovations and commemorates two decades of excellence with TESSYS®, a pioneering technique that has revolutionized endoscopic spine surgery.

“These advancements are game-changers in endoscopic spine surgery, especially the transforaminal approach and will undoubtedly revolutionize how to tackle complex spinal procedures.”

The new website provides a seamless digital experience for customers and partners, worldwide. With enhanced features and user-friendly navigation, www.joimax.com serves as a comprehensive hub of information on joimax®’s cutting-edge endoscopic spine surgery solutions.

At GSC, joimax® is not only celebrating 20 years of TESSYS®, but also exhibiting an array of product innovations, such as TESSYS® Trans SAP with the newest Double Drill, ilESSYS® Biportal, the RoboFIX® robotorized Arm, and the Camsource® Duo, which further enhances surgical precision and visualization, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

“We are immensely proud of the impact TESSYS® has had on the field of endoscopic spine surgery,” stated joimax® CEO and President Wolfgang Ries. “joimax® has pioneered the transforaminal approach, building upon and enhancing Parviz Kambin’s original concept, influencing our path to endoscopic fusion. Our commitment to excellence remains unwavering as we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in minimally invasive spine surgery.”

Feedback from surgeons has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing enthusiasm for joimax®‘s “fireworks of innovations”. Dr. Frank Hassel, Chief Physician Spinal Surgery and Medical Director, Loretto Krankenhaus Freiburg, Germany; Prof. Junseok Bae, President, Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, South Korea; and Prof. Christoph P. Hoftstetter, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Cape Cod Healthcare, Hyannis, USA issued this group statement: “These advancements are game-changers in endoscopic spine surgery, especially the transforaminal approach and will undoubtedly revolutionize how to tackle complex spinal procedures.”

Also at GSC, joimax® is hosting expert talks, and leading basic and advanced workshops. From groundbreaking technologies to intuitive surgical tools, joimax® continues to lead the way in providing surgeons with the necessary resources to address a wide-range of spinal issues. To learn more about joimax®‘s innovations, visit www.joimax.com or stop by the joimax® GSC booths 2 and 3.

Two top notch cadaver workshops offered by joimax® in April

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

Karlsruhe, 25. April 2012. After March has been the month of international congresses – the ISASS in Barcelona and the EndoVienna in Vienna – April is the month of international workshops for joimax®.

From April 19th to 20th, 2012 joimax® held a cadaver workshop in collaboration with the anatomic institute of the University of Heidelberg – a since long established partner. Dr. Carl-Hans Fürstenberg, senior physician at the centre for spinal cord medicine and spine surgery of the University Clinic Heidelberg, talked about anatomy of the lumbar spine, the transforaminal access and suitable indications for less advanced learners. Dr. Menno Iprenburg from the Dutch Rugkliniek Iprenburg demonstrated the transforaminal approach step by step. The true potential of this method was illustrated by Dr. Ralf Wagner from the Ligamenta Spine Center in Frankfurt with the presentation of some of his most complex cases. The theory session was completed by some recommendations on anesthesia and especially on analgosedation by Dr. Alexander Godschalx from Deurze in the Netherlands. CEO and joimax® founder Wolfgang Ries gave a short outline on future developments in endoscopic spine surgery – a field that belongs to the core competences of joimax® as one of the market leaders. Guided by experienced instructors, the 12 international participants were able to intensively try and train the minimally invasive joimax® techniques on three cadavers during the hands-on session.

The second workshop for this month is currently taking place at the MEDucation Medical Training Center, Mülheim/Ruhr in Germany. This workshop is exclusively held for a Chinese group of physicians. The top delegation of 17 spine specialists from China participate at the company’s well known three-step education program. They have visited different German and Dutch clinics for visitations with the experienced joimax® faculty members. Back to Mülheim/Ruhr they will be able to instantaneously practice the joimax® access and treatment methods in the cadaver lab. Talks of the joimax® reference surgeons Dr. Michael Schubert, Munich, and Dr. Guntram Krzok, Friedrichroda, will complete the program. Both Germany-based physicians have a special relation to Chinese customs and culture due to several lecture tours with live surgeries through China. As the third step of the education program own surgeries “at home” guided by the joimax® faculty team or a joimax® application specialist can be arranged. “The combination of theory, practice and life surgeries makes this education program truly unique” – that’s what stated one of the Chinese professors.

The next cadaver workshops will take place in May in Salzburg, Austria and in June in Mainz, Germany.

joimax® STUDIES PUBLISHED IN WORLD NEUROSURGERY TESSYS® system proves to be surgical rescue solution for kyphoplasty complication and thoracic disc herniation.

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

Irvine, Germany, September 14th, 2016 – joimax®, the expert in endoscopic minimally invasive spine surgery, is pleased to announce another publication on its technologies to be released in World Neurosurgery (2016). In the paper called “Transpedicular Lumbar Endoscopic Surgery for Highly Migrated Disc Extrusions, a preliminary series and surgical technique,” published by Krzok G et al, 21 patients underwent this procedure with the TESSYS® system. The paper follows two technical notes by Wagner R et al in which he shows joimax® techniques as surgical rescue solutions in a kyphoplasty complication and another one for the treatment of a thoracic disc herniation, all published in World Neurosurgery.

The first technical note mentioned above describes the case of a 72-year-old woman with a leakage of the kyphoplasty cement into the spinal canal (a described and known complication), where the joimax® technology was successfully used as a rescue solution to remove the cement and decompress the nerval structures preventing major surgery. The second technical note describes the transforaminal endoscopic foraminoplasty and discectomy for the treatment of a thoracic disc herniation. A 31-year-old woman with severe thoracic back pain over one year was successfully treated by using the transforaminal endoscopic approach so that open surgery was not needed.

Over the years a growing number of studies show the outstanding advantages of endoscopic minimally invasive spinal surgery, such as the prospective Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of Ruetten et al in 178 patients and by Hoogland et al in a study of 262 consecutive cases of transforaminal endoscopic spinal surgery. Both were published in Spine 2008, Vol. 33, Issue 9. Another retrospective evaluation with 195 patients of Jasper et al (Clinical Neurology & Neurosurgery 2013, Vol. 115, Issue 10) and a multi-centric MIS prospective registry published by Sclafani et al (IJSS 2015, Vol. 9, Art. 69) with 86 patients, also showed very encouraging results. Beyond that, a special edition in the Journal of Neurosurgery called Neurosurgical Focus, published by Gokaslan Z, Telfeian A and Wang M focused on Endoscopic Spine Surgery was released in February 2016 (JNS 2016, Vol. 40, No. 2).

“Working with Endoscopic Spine Surgery for more than 12 years (her performed already 2,400 Tessys® procedures in daysurgery in analgo-sedation) and seeing its evolution is just amazing and I wonder where we will be in five or ten years from now”, says Menno Iprenburg, MD from Veenhuizen, NL, who continues to be involved in many of these studies.

Albert Telfeian, MD, PhD from Brown University, RI is very happy about the actual hit rate on PubMed when searching for endoscopic spinal surgery, “To date we’ve received a rate of 2,730 papers on http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=endoscopic+spinal+surgery and I am really excited how many indications are treatable with endoscopy already today,” said Telfeian.

“Shortly another RCT study will be published by Gibson et al demonstrating the quality and great success rate of endoscopic spine treatments with a high adoption rate, especially in Asian countries, and in some countries where there is more than 50% growth per annum”, says Wolfgang Ries, founder and CEO of joimax®.

joimax® Signs National Distribution Partner in Taiwan

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

Karlsruhe (GER), 26 June 2020 – joimax®, the German-based market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, is pleased to announce a new countrywide distributor in Taiwan, Hi-Clearance Inc. With the aim of building an effective, long-term relationship, the strategic supplier partnership is a further milestone in the international growth of joimax® .

joimax® Signs National Distribution Partner in Taiwan

“Hi-Clearance is our ideal sales and service partner,” says joimax® CEO and Founder Mr. Wolfgang Ries. With their streamlined structure and process in place, we are confident joimax® will penetrate this new market very successfully”.

Hi-Clearance Inc. has over 239 employees, and is a well-known supplier of medical materials and equipment in Taiwan. “We are very pleased about the new strategic partnership and are excited to continue the strong growth of both companies,” states Hi-Clearance Chairman Mr. John Lee and President Mr. Ernie Chen. “We are dedicated to establishing joimax® as the leading brand of endoscopic spine surgery in Taiwan.”

Hi-Clearance Inc. is headquartered in Taipei with four other branches spread across the country. The main business includes products for Hemodialysis, Critical Care, Dental, Cardiology, Homecare Devices, Nutrition and a major Spine Surgery Division. In 2019, sales were USD 107 million.

TESSYS® pioneers receive the Parviz Kambin Honorary Award

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

Karlsruhe – At a ceremony in Paris two TESSYS® pioneers received the Parviz Kambin Honorary Award: Dr. Florian Maria Alfen from Würzburg, Germany, who in 2003 acquired the first TESSYS® complete system and has successfully performed more than 2,500 procedures. As a member of the joimax® Faculty, Dr. Alfen has trained many doctors. The second award winner is Dr. Daniel Laich from Chicago, U.S.A. He is the first TESSYS® user in the United States and has been a Faculty member since 2009, as well as a scientific adviser for the company with his extensive experience of TESSYS®.

Since 2004 more than 100,000 patients in 30 countries (up to August 2014) have undergone surgery with the TESSYS® method and its later developments. The latest studies reveal a shorter recovery time, a quicker return to work and normal quality of life, and an associated reduction in the impact on welfare systems.

joimax® elevates its presence across Europe and Asia

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

Irvine, CA – June 7, 2017 – Over the last few weeks, joimax® participated in numerous scientific meetings, held across Europe and Asia. During these meetings, the German-based company reiterated its position as market leader for endoscopic minimally invasive spine surgery.

Starting in early May, joimax® exhibited at this years’ Global Spine Congress (GSC) in Milan, Italy, including a Meet-the-Expert Session at its booth and at the Intermediate Meeting of the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and Techniques (WCMISST) in Paris, France. Numerous joimax® faculty members presented the latest results in endoscopic spine surgery.

joimax presence at GSC 2017

From May 11 to 14, joimax® participated in the 10th Conference of the Chinese Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, held in cooperation with the North American Spine Society (CAOS/NASS) in Guangzhou, China. The conference was combined with a highly attended workshop on principles and techniques of complex spine surgery. This session was video transmitted to 20,000 hubs.

During the annual meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC) in Magdeburg, Germany, from May 14 to 17, joimax® exhibited its complete product range. The lunch symposium, covering the treatment options in endoscopic decompression and pain therapy, was presented by the well-recognized joimax® faculty members Drs. Erik Traupe, Guntram Krzok and Ralf Wagner.

From May 18 to 20, joimax® participated in the first International Spine Conference at the KCM clinic in Jelenia Gora, Poland, highlighting the achievements of modern endoscopic minimally invasive spine surgery. In live surgeries various endoscopic techniques in cervical and lumbar cases were performed. The session was coupled with a simultaneous discussion between surgeons and participants.

“The International Spine Conference in Poland marks the successful kick-off for the cooperation with our new partner to start extensive market activities in this country”, says Wolfgang Ries, Founder and CEO of joimax®. “Both, training and education, which also started in Poland, now are the key to success to further deepen the endoscopic knowledge of spine surgeons.”

In early June, the annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) took place in Athens, Greece, followed by the annual congress of the French Society of Spinal Surgery (Societé Francaise de Chirurgie Rachidienne, SFCR) in Lille, France. Both meetings attracted many spine specialists and generated good traffic at the joimax® booths.

Since its inception, joimax® participates in the European Course for Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery (EUCMISS, http://www.eucmiss.com). This years’ 5th Course in Madrid, Spain, was held on June 1 and 2. It was a special course of globally leading experts in minimally invasive spine, exchanging the practical and scientific experience in presentation and multidisciplinary cadaver courses.

joimax® will continue its activities by exhibiting at the NSpine Main Conference in London, UK, from June 12 to 15 and then they head back to Asia to attend the 6th Asian Conference of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Techniques (ACMISST) in Bangkok, Thailand between June 29 and July 2 with a faculty presentation and a booth presence.

joimax® CEO & Founder talking to Global Spine Conference Chairman Jeffery Wang, MD, PhD in an 1:1 interview

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

Paris, France | November 2021 – During this years Global Spine Congress (GSC) joimax® CEO & Founder, Wolfgang Ries, sat down with GSC Chairman, Jeffery Wang, MD, PhD, to talk about the 20 years success of the company, education with the ESPINEA® Endoscopic Spine Academy and the future of endoscopic spine surgery!

Watch more interesting videos on our YouTube Channel!

joimax® successfully carries out 5th International Live Surgery Workshop in cooperation with APEX Spine Center

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

joimax® hosts another international endoscopy workshop focussed on spine surgery supported by renowned spine specialists

Karlsruhe, 15 October 2010 – On 14 and 15 October the Klinikum Starnberg, Munich, as well as the anatomy of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany, were the site of a two-day joimax® workshop focussed on the endoscopic resection of herniated discs performed by the TESSYS® method. Highlight of this international workshop were two live surgeries observed by 21 participating orthopaedic surgeons as well as neurosurgeons in the adjacent conference room of the Starnberg Residence.

Dr. med. Michael Schubert of the Munich APEX SPINE Center operated on two patients, explained every single step of the surgery and answered the auditorium’s questions. Several workshop participants were able to watch the surgery directly in the operating room. The live surgeries were preceded by an intensive cadaver training in the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Participants came from Germany, Austria, Italy, England, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Renowned faculties like Dr. Florian Maria Alfen, Dr. Guntram Krzok, Dr. Carl-Hans Fürstenberg, Dr. Wolfgang Kreil as well as Dr. Manuel Panne, anaesthesiologist in Munich, contributed to a successful event.

The Bayerische Rundfunk TV station was live onsite on 14 October and aired the report titled “Schnelle Hilfe dank Endoskopie” (“Fast relieve through endoscopy”) the very same evening at best broadcasting time.

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

Posted on by Antonio Berlen

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.

 

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