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Del Palma Orthopedics

ABA11 Winner / How to Enter

Company: Del Palma Orthopedics, Columbia City, IN
Company Description: Del Palma Orthopedics was founded to provide an avenue for surgeon product ideas to become a reality. Del Palma currently has nine employees, all surgeons and industry veterans, who share a passion to create medical devices and surgical techniques that enable same day surgical procedures. Del Palma partners with surgeons to advance today's techniques with tomorrow's technology.
Nomination Category: New Product Awards & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Health Products & Services

Nomination Title: Del Palma Orthopedics Advansor TF

    Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and sales to date. You may include hyperlinks to product photos and data sheets. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

        The Advansor TF allows a surgeon to perform trigger finger release procedures in
their office rather than in a surgical suite due to an innovative “no stitch”
approach.  Changing the location of this procedure saves time and money for the
healthcare system as a whole, but also for each individual patient.  These
devices are available in convenient, all-inclusive, fully disposable kits that
are configured based on the components most frequently utilized by surgeons for
the procedure. 

        A patient with trigger finger will experience swelling in their hand that
eventually causes their fingers to lock at an angle
(http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/trigger-finger). Approximately
600,000 trigger fingers are diagnosed in the United States each year.
Currently, in order to get relief from the painful symptoms, the recommended
course of treatment is two rounds of cortisone injection followed by surgical
release.
(http://www.jhandsurg.org/article/S0363-5023%2809%2900216-0/abstract)  The
recurrence rate with cortisone injections is quite high, and approximately
250,000 trigger finger release surgeries are performed each year.
The Advansor TF contains the following elements: a tip or finder, a monorail
track, a blade assembly, a soft tissue dissector and a handle. The tip directs
the instrument into the proper location, gives the surgeon tactile feedback of
anatomic landmarks, is palpable through the skin in most instances and provides
the termination point for the blade. The monorail track provides a captured rail
for deployment of the blade, ensuring that it is guided along a direct path. The
blade assembly contains a customized blade on an actuator and a hood-like
dissector. The height of the blade/hood is proportional to the thickness of the
tissue being released. The dissector moves surrounding tissue away from the
blade during deployment to prevent damage to nerves, veins and arteries that are
adjacent to the tissue intended for release. The ergonomic handle allows the
surgeon to grip it and insert the instrument into the skin and direct it into
the proper location. The handle also contains the button and slot for blade
deployment.

        Given the strain of healthcare costs in the US, new ways of thinking are
required to maintain the quality of treatment that surgeons want to give their
patients. Costs of performing a trigger finger release varies greatly, but in
this example, the costs are from “Using Evidence to Minimize the Costs of
Trigger Finger Care” by Kerrigan in the Journal of Hand Surgery (referenced
above, refer to table 3).  A patient going through the typical treatment
progression as described would be billed $7291.  A patient going through
treatment with the Advansor TF procedure pack would be billed $2534.

        Del Palma Orthopedics is a small company (nine employees) with a limited
distribution network, but has managed to sell the product online.  This is a
unique distribution model in the orthopedic market.

    List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, product reviews, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://delpalmaortho.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00024
http://www.delpalmaortho.com/pdfs/A%20Surgical%20Revolution.pdf
http://www.oprah.com/health/Os-Special-Report-on-Operating-Rooms-Versus-Office-Based-Surgeries
http://www.jhandsurg.org/article/S0363-5023%2809%2900216-0/abstract
http://www.delpalmaortho.com/tf-procedure-kit.aspx
http://delpalmaortho.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1
http://www.assh.org/AnnualMeeting2010/Exhibits/Pages/Products.aspx
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=108747787
http://www.orthopaediclist.com/products-request.asp?ProductID=10475&request=info
http://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=web-sdmg-uspto.gov&v%3Aproject=firstgov&query=dale+dellacqua

    Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

        Dr. Dellacqua completed his orthopedic surgery training at Indiana University
and recently finished a fellowship in hand and microvascular surgery at the
Texas Hand Center in San Antonio, Texas.

        Dr. Dellacqua was raised in Zionsville, Indiana. He attended Indiana University
in Bloomington for his undergraduate studies and obtained his medical degree at
Rush Medical College in Chicago where he graduated with Honors and was elected
to Alpha Omega Alpha. After five years of orthopedic surgery training at the
Indiana University Medical Center, Dr. Dellacqua spent an additional year in
fellowship training specializing in hand and microvascular surgery. His areas of
interest include hand reconstruction for arthritic deformities, joint
replacement, and the treatment of occupational related upper extremity disorders.