DePuy AcroMed Inc, a Johnson & Johnson company, announced the market introduction of Cellect, the first minimally invasive device that utilizes a needle to collect bone marrow cells from the hip area and then processes the cells so they can be grafted onto the spine.

This new technique to treat back pain may potentially result in significantly fewer complications than typically associated with traditional bone harvesting used in spinal fusion surgery, a procedure performed on more than 300,000 people each year in the U.S.

In traditional bone harvesting, surgeons remove bone material from a patient's hip area through a 3- to 5-inch incision. Studies have shown that complications arise in 31% of procedures, while 27% of patients continue to feel pain in the hip area as long as two years after surgery.

"Use of a needle eliminates the need for a surgical harvest of the bone from a patient's hip area and as a result may reduce the pain the patient feels after surgery," said George F. Muschler, an orthopaedic surgeon and researcher in The Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, and Orthopaedic Research Center. "In addition, this new technology allows surgeons for the first time to selectively control or increase the population of bone forming cells in a region where new bone tissue is needed to make a repair."

In the new procedure, a surgeon uses a Cellect bone marrow aspiration needle to extract bone marrow through a tiny incision. The bone marrow is then placed into DePuy AcroMed's Cellect System, which enriches a graft with an increased proportion of progenitor cells (bone forming cells) onto a special matrix through a patented process. These cells are then inserted into the spine operative area. The technology was developed in collaboration with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Spinal fusion surgery is used to relieve back pain believed to be caused by a damaged disc that can cause instability and malpositioning of the spine.

"With the addition of Cellect, DePuy AcroMed now has the broadest osteobiologics portfolio in the spine market," said Earl R. Fender, Worldwide President of DePuy AcroMed, Inc. "This new technology will also serve as a key platform for us as we develop other products that enhance spine surgery and improve the quality of life for the millions of people who suffer from painful spine and back conditions."