Frank Phillips, Paul Anderson and Federico Girardi Join SI-BONE's Medical Advisory Board

CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire / -- SI-BONE, Inc. (Cupertino, California), a medical device company that is pioneering the use of a minimally invasive surgical device to treat sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction today announced that several key luminary spine surgeons have joined the Company's Medical Advisory Board.  Drs. Frank M. Phillips, Paul A. Anderson and Federico P. Girardi join Drs. Steven R. Garfin (chair), Mark A. Reiley and A. Nick Shamie on the SI-BONE Medical Advisory Board.

Drs. Phillips, Anderson and Girardi are renowned spine surgeons with experience in low back pathologies.  They will work with the Company to provide SI joint-specific advice on education of surgeons and physiatrists, clinical trial and protocol design input, data review and comment, referrals to colleagues, presentations and publications in peer-reviewed meetings and medical journals, and editorial review of manuscripts and abstracts.  "I'm pleased to have my colleagues joining me on the SI-BONE advisory board," said Dr. Garfin.  He added, "I'm sure they will be invaluable in helping to get the word out on diagnosing SI joint problems and the "patient friendly" MIS treatment of patients with iFuse™ who have failed non-operative conservative medical therapy."

Dr. Phillips is an internationally recognized spine surgeon and an acknowledged expert in the field of motion preserving and minimally invasive spinal procedures. He has participated in the development of a number of minimally invasive spinal techniques and devices and has focused on research in biologics and biomechanics of spinal reconstruction.  He is a graduate from the University of Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa, completed his orthopedic residency at The University of Chicago and served a spine fellowship at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He is currently Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Head of the Section of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Rush University Medical Center. He publishes and lectures extensively and directs spinal educational courses for other surgeons. Dr. Phillips is Past President of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and is on various committees of the Cervical Spine Research Committee and the Society for Advanced Spine Surgery (SAS).  

Dr. Anderson is a leading academic and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  He is a graduate of Wayne State University Medical School in Detroit, MI where he also served his residency in orthopedic surgery.  He served his fellowship in spine surgery at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.  His clinical specialties are varied and numerous and he is the author and editor of numerous spine and orthopedic surgery textbooks and publications.  Dr. Anderson is certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and is a nationally recognized expert in spinal trauma and complex cervical spine disorders. His research specialties include spinal fixation implants, the development of an artificial cervical disc, and basic research in disc regeneration.

Dr. Girardi is an internationally renowned spine surgeon who specializes in the surgical treatment of different spinal disorders, including degenerative disease and stenosis, deformity, osteoporosis, fractures, and tumors of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine.  He has extensive experience in clinical research involving the areas of minimally invasive surgery, clinical outcomes of different surgical procedures, and imaging modalities of the spine. His interests include basic science aspects of bone, disc and nerve tissue regeneration as well as the investigation of alternatives to spinal fusion for the treatment of degenerative disc disease.  Dr. Girardi is Associate Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery and Associate Professor of Orthopedics at Weill Cornell Medical College.  He earned his medical degree at Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina and served his residency at Buenos Aires University in orthopedic surgery and trauma in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  His fellowship was served in the Hospital for Special Surgery, Spine & Scoliosis Surgery in New York.  

Jeffrey Dunn, President and Chief Executive Officer of SI-BONE, commented, "We are honored that these world-renowned specialists have agreed to join SI-BONE's Medical Advisory Board. They all bring extensive clinical experience and a very patient-centric intense focus to our Medical Advisory Board. We expect to benefit from their insights and expertise as we continue to seek to position MIS SI Joint fusion among the frontline therapies for patients with unresolved chronic low back symptoms refractory to conservative medical therapy.  Our MAB members have already assisted with the development of our recently announced strategies to reach out to other spine surgeons and pain specialists, and we look forward to their further contributions in 2010 and beyond."

In response to increasing awareness of SI Joint dysfunction as a debilitating symptom generator, SI-BONE, Inc. developed an innovative, patented, intramedullary implant to treat the SI Joint.   The company is also planning a post-market multicenter study to determine its effect over time on SI Joint pathology and on symptoms associated with SI Joint dysfunction.

The iFuse Implant System is a commercially available device in the US intended for fracture fixation of large bones and large bone fragments of the pelvis for conditions including sacroiliac joint disruptions and degenerative sacroiliitis.  The iFuse procedure uses a minimal incision for delivery and implantation of small, titanium implants.  The implants are coated with a porous plasma spray that acts as an interference surface, designed to help decrease implant motion.  These implants have substantial thickness and sophisticated metallurgy and are able to produce a much stronger construct than that of conventional pins or screws used to surgically fix boney structures.  This implant technology from SI-BONE has been previously used successfully in approximately 1,000 cases of dysfunctional foot joints.

About SI-BONE, Inc.

SI-BONE, Inc. (Cupertino, California) is a leading spinal medical device company dedicated to the development of tools and products for diagnosing and treating patients with low back issues related to sacroiliac (SI) joint pathology.  The company has developed, and is manufacturing and marketing, less invasive approaches using implants for the treatment of SI Joint pathology.  SI-BONE has an experienced management team with extensive experience in orthopedic and spine medical devices.

SOURCE SI-BONE, Inc.