Frank Vizesi, PhD, has been appointed chief scientific officer of SeaSpine after seven years with the company.

Stryker has acquired 46 companies in its 81-year history, including 14 in the last five years. Its most recent acquisition, Vocera Communications, was finalized in February for $3.1 billion. But what does Stryker have planned for the health IT company?

Louisiana neurosurgeon Sebastian Koga, MD, has completed the world's first surgeries using Aurora Spine Corp.'s Dexa-C implant, the devicemaker said March 3.

SeaSpine has launched its NorthStar cervical facet fusion and Flash Navigation lumbar facet fusion devices.

The launch of Zimmer Biomet's spine and dental spinoff and four more key updates from spine devicemakers in the last week:

Regenerative medicine, patient-specific implants and artificial intelligence continue to gather momentum in the spine field, but robotics and augmented reality are the technologies surgeons expect to become more prominent in the next five years.

SurgGenTec's Ion implant received FDA clearance, the devicemaker said March 1.

Spine Care Technologies hired Jonathan Meehan as vice president and head of sales.

Augmented reality in spine surgery is taking off, and its growth could be exponential in the near future. With more and more places adopting the technology, many surgeons have a positive outlook for the technology.

Zimmer Biomet's spine and dental spinoff, ZimVie, completed its separation on schedule March 1.

Orthofix posted $464.5 million in 2021 net sales, up 14 percent compared with 2020, and aims to continue its growth trajectory over the next couple of years.

Globus Medical, Smith+Nephew and NuVasive saw revenue increases in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Brad Prybis, MD, a surgeon at Carrollton, Ga.-based Tanner Medical Center, performed the first case with 4Web Medical's hyperlordotic lateral implant with Truss technology.

NuVasive's Pulse integrated spine surgery system launched in summer 2021, with the first commercial cases performed in July in Ohio and Texas.

Medtronic is allowing spine devicemaker Autocam Medical to lease its space in Warsaw, Ind., Ink Free News reported Feb. 24.

NuVasive saw increases in fourth-quarter and full-year revenue in 2021, according to financial results posted Feb. 23.

Motion-preserving devices are one of the most exciting technologies being developed in spine surgery. Cervical disc arthroplasty has taken off in recent years, with long-term data continuing to impress and lumbar artificial disc replacement also gathering momentum.

Here are six updates from spine device companies in the last week:

OrthoPediatrics has reached 1,000 cases completed with the Firefly pedicle screw navigation guides.

Stryker has completed its $3.1 billion acquisition of Vocera Communications, the devicemaker said Feb. 23.