The CHARITÉ®
Artificial Disc was originally developed at the CHARITÉ University
Hospital in Berlin, Germany in the mid-1980's
by Prof. Karin Büttner-Janz, Prof. Kurt Schellnack, leading
spine specialists. Further refinements to the design
were incorporated with the cooperation of
the staff at Waldemar Link GmbH, a leading
European based medical device manufacturer.
In
2003 DePuy Spine acquired the Link Spine Group,
Inc., and gained exclusive worldwide rights to
its principal product, the SB CHARITÉ®
Artificial Disc. The FDA approved the CHARITÉ® Artificial
Disc in October of 2004 after extensive review
of
the two
year U.S. clinical trial
results. In addition to these studies, total
disc replacement with the CHARITÉ® Artificial
Disc has been performed in Europe for over
17 years and has been used in treating thousands of patients worldwide with successful
results.
This makes the CHARITÉ® Artificial Disc the
first and most clinically tested total disc
replacement in the world. A breakthrough in
non-fusion technology, it offers an innovative
surgical option to physicians for treating
some patients with degenerative disc disease
and related conditions.
Keep in mind that replacement of painful joints
is already extremely common. For example,
artificial hip and knee replacements are among
the most successful and reliable operations
performed today. The significance
of bringing motion to spinal surgery may have
the same dramatic impact, as did the above
introductions.
