The medical device giant Medtronic will acquire Medicrea, a French company that specializes in implant technologies used in spinal surgeries.

Medtronic and Medicrea announced they entered into a tender-offer agreement – unanimously approved by both companies' Boards of Directors – to acquire all outstanding shares of Medicrea.

WHY IT MATTERS

Medtronic says the acquisition means it will be able to offer AI-driven surgical planning, robotics-assisted surgery and personalized spinal implants. 

Medicrea's products include a range of spinal implants, along with a systems-based software using predictive modeling and simulated surgical strategies to support surgeons' workflow. 

"You can focus on your case with the optimized implant solutions ready before stepping foot into the O.R.," says the company on its website.

According to Medicrea, its technologies have been used in more than 175,000 surgeries. 

THE LARGER TREND

The acquisition is just the latest in Medtronic's continued expansion. In December of last year, the Wilmington, Delaware-based ChristianaCare announced it would work with the company to collaborate on new strategies for technology-based intervention for patients. 

The company also gained FDA clearance earlier this month for its insertable cardiac monitor with remote programming, and clearance in June for its Deep Brain Stimulation system following the 2018 approval of its DBS programmer and app.

ON THE RECORD

"Combining Medtronic's innovative portfolio of spine implants, robotics, navigation and 3D imaging technology with Medicrea's capabilities and solutions in data analytics, artificial intelligence and personalized implants would enhance Medtronic’s fully-integrated procedural solution for surgical planning and delivery," said Jacob Paul, Medtronic senior vice president, in a press statement.

"Spine surgery is one of the more complex procedures in healthcare because of the high number of different parameters to take into consideration. It is impossible for the human brain to compute all of them for one single patient," said Medicrea CEO Denys Sournac in a statement.

"The medical world has been waiting for the arrival of customization in spinal surgery," he added. "With scientific progress in understanding sagittal balance and spinal injury, combined with the advent of new digital technologies, it is now possible to offer spinal patients entirely customized implants."

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.