Spine

George Rappard, MD, founder of the Los Angeles Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, is serving as the principal investigator of a clinical trial studying the Device for Intervertebral Assisted Motion as a minimally invasive alternative for back pain treatment.

BlueCross BlueShield has named Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., a Blue Distinction Center in the areas of spine surgery and knee and hip replacement, according to an Argus Leader report.

Here are 18 spine surgeons and specialists that were recently appointed to prestigious positions or achieved notable accomplishments.

Westside Surgical Hospital in Houston, a multispecialty physican-owend hospital, has acquired the Mazor Robotics Renaissance system, one of seven systems being used in Texas, according to a Mazor Robotics news release.

Jeffrey Carlson, MD, is an orthopedic spine surgeon and the president and managing partner of Orthopaedic and Spine Center, in Newport News, Va. He is also the chief of surgery at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News.

A. Nick Shamie, MD, a spine surgeon with the UCLA Health System, discusses how the sequester and looming budget cuts will impact spine surgeons in the future.

Spine Team Texas based in Rockwall has announced that it is the first facility in the Dallas area to implant Precision Spectra, a spinal cord stimulator.

BlueCross BlueShield has named the University of Connecticut Health Center's New England Musculoskeletal Institute a Blue Distinction Center for spine surgery and total joint replacement.

Ted Belanger, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, has traveled to Ethiopia to treat patients with spine conditions on a medical mission trip, according to a Texas Back Institute report.

At the 2013 AAOS Annual Meeting, researchers presented the results of a study of 45 academic medical centers' spinal implant purchasing records, according to a News Medical report.