A Medical Device Daily

Crosstrees Medical (Boulder, Colorado), a development stage company conducting clinical studies in the treatment of vertebral compression fractures, said it has been granted a U.S. patent for its delivery technology applied to the spinal disc. The patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,993,345, was granted for “Device and Method for Distraction of the Spinal Disc Space.“

R&D staff at Crosstrees developed the technology to address the need for improved delivery of therapeutic agents to the damaged spinal disc. Devices using Crosstrees Pod technology feature a polymer material constructed to control the delivery of biomaterials to selected areas of the body, with a focus on treatment of degenerative spine conditions. Following delivery of therapeutic agents, the polymer construct is opened and removed from the anatomic site, leaving only the filler material within the anatomic site.

“The Crosstrees Pod System offers multiple opportunities for improved surgical outcomes for patients with degenerative spine conditions,“ said Robert Scribner, president/CEO of Crosstrees. “We are pleased with the issuance of this patent and the expansion of our defining intellectual property to therapeutic applications for degenerative disc disease.“

In the U.S., the Crosstrees Pod system is being evaluated in an IDE clinical study being conducted in support of a future 510(k) market clearance submission to the FDA.

The company also reported that it was granted U.S. Patent No. 7,993,343, for “Extractable Filler for Inserting Medicine into Vertebral Body.“

In other patent activity, Verify Brand (Minneapolis) reported getting its third U.S. patent (No. 7,996,319) for an “Authentication and Tracking System.“

“We continue to be very pleased with the success of our intellectual property protection strategy,“ said Kevin Erdman, president of Verify Brand. “We foresee continuing positive developments from this key initiative.“

Verify Brand provides manufacturers and governments with comprehensive, highly configurable and turnkey systems for component, end-product, asset and security document serialization, secure data management and software hosting, authentication, track and trace, logistics and brand promotion.