Premier award for medical technology design goes to company’s customized implants for partial knee replacement

Burlington, Mass.— April 6, 2009—Two knee-resurfacing implants from Conformis, Inc. have received a 2009 Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA), the premier recognition for contributions and advances in the design of medical products. The minimally invasive, patient-specific iUni^® and iDuo^® implants were developed to improve patient clinical benefits, simplify surgical technique and increase hospital efficiencies associated with partial knee replacements for patients suffering from osteoarthritis.

“We are extremely pleased to be recognized by the MDEA award committee,” said Philipp Lang, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Conformis. “We believe that the Conformis implant system and instrumentation offers a truly personalized approach to knee resurfacing and appreciate the recognition this award provides to our leadership in patient-specific approaches to orthopedics.”

Between 30-50% of patients who receive a total knee replacement exhibit symptoms of osteoarthritis in just one or two of the three compartments of the knee. For these patients, partial knee replacement may be a more conservative alternative. Conformis’ iUni implant is designed for unicompartmental knee resurfacing in patients whose arthritic damage is isolated to either the medial or lateral compartments of the knee. The iDuo implant is the first and only patient-specific bicompartmental knee resurfacing implant, designed for patients whose damage is in the patellofemoral compartment as well as either the medial or lateral compartment. Each implant resurfaces only the affected areas, preserving far more bone than traditional knee replacement surgery.

A multidisciplinary panel of third-party jurors with expertise in biomedical engineering, human factors, industrial design, medicine, and diagnostics conferred the MDEA award based on criteria including the innovative use of design and engineering to overcome clinical challenges, enhanced benefits to the patient, and ability to improve healthcare delivery. The Conformis partial knee system met these challenges by combining orthopedic expertise with imaging data and proprietary software to create a state-of-the art, cost-effective solution that can be mass-customized for each patient.

Each implant is designed from an individual patient’s CT scan, and is precisely sized and shaped to match the 3D topography of the patient’s bone surfaces using the company’s proprietary iFit^® technology. This customized resurfacing minimizes trauma to damaged and diseased joints and helps to preserve healthy bone and cartilage that can be lost in traditional knee replacement surgery.

The iUni and iDuo are packaged together with disposable, patient-specific instrumentation called iJigs^®, which are designed from the same scans as the implant. Patient-specific cutting and placement guides eliminate manual sizing during surgery and provide tactile guidance to precisely place the instruments, simplifying and improving surgical technique. Conformis’s “image-to-implant” process replaces multiples trays of complex surgical instruments with one tray of single-use custom guides that streamline hospital operations.

The 2009 Medical Design Excellence Award was organized and presented by Canon Communications LLC. Winners will be honored at a ceremony during the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) East Conference and Exposition, June 9–11, 2009, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

About Conformis, Inc. 
Conformis, Inc. is a privately-held company that develops and commercializes medical devices for the treatment of osteoarthritis and joint damage. Its proprietary intellectual property includes more than 250 patents and patent applications that span a range of technologies including imaging software, image processing, implant design, surgical techniques, instrumentation, and manufacturing. Conformis knee implants and instrumentation are designed to address all stages of osteoarthritis, the most common reason for knee replacement surgery. All devices have been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for marketing in the US.