Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) announced today that it launched its Tula system for the placement of tympanostomy tubes (ear tubes).

London-based Smith & Nephew’s Tula system is an in-office option that allows surgeons to place ear tubes in an awake child without the need for general anesthesia.

Physicians using the Tula system numb the eardrum with a novel, child-friendly anesthesia before a specialized tube delivery system allows the physician to place an ear tube in less than half a second. Most children return to normal activities immediately after the Tula procedure, according to a news release.

Dr. Ritvik Mehta, an otolaryngologist with California Head & Neck Specialists and investigator in the Tula pivotal study yesterday performed the first Tula procedure since the system received FDA approval.

“This personally hits home as my daughter had ear tube placement performed in the operating room,” Mehta said in the rele…

Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) today announced the launch of its new Journey II Unicompartmental Knee System.

The system is a highly personalized approach to partial knee arthroplasty through a modular, two tray configuration. It works by introducing a lateral specific tibia baseplate and an increased size range for femoral components and medial tibia baseplates to optimize the bone coverage in the medial and lateral compartments in the knee.

“The updated instrumentation presented by the Journey II Unicompartmental Knee System, paired with the increased range in implant sizes and a lateral specific baseplate, makes it easy to reproducibly perform well-balanced medial and lateral unicompartmental arthroplasties,” an orthopedic doctor at Rush University Medical Center Tad Gerlinger said in a news release.

Smith & Nephew’s Journey II UK two-tray footprint could also offer healthcare providers an increased value in a comprehensive soluti…