2008 | 4WEB Medical’s Truss Implant Technology, based on engineering principles such as truss design, is born.
2011 | The Anterior Spine Truss System becomes the first 3D printed spine implant to receive FDA 510(k) clearance.
2022 | 4WEB’s Ankle Truss System granted Breakthrough Device designation in tibiotalocalcaneal (TTC) fusion procedures, introducing a patient-matched workflow for patients with ankle bone defects.
2024 | The Ankle Truss System earns FDA 510(k) clearance with a patient-matched designation. The product line is acquired by a top orthopaedics manufacturer.
2025 | The 100,000th spine procedure to use a 4WEB Medical implant is completed
Every patient-specific device starts with a clinical need.
There is little to no forecasting that can prepare those who will now need to spring into action. There are no hospital consignment models. There is no stock sitting on the shelf.
The demand for such devices can be irregular and unpredictable. And if the surgeon is procuring a patient-specific implant, it’s probably critical. Patients are likely looking at amputation or paralysis, maybe even death, if effective treatment is not forthcoming.
4WEB Medical, an orthopaedic implant company offering spine ankle and foot implants, has novel architecture, a workflow that has received regulatory clearance, and all the experience it could need.
And yet, the additive manufacture (AM) of patientspecific devices is no walk in the park.
Here’s what it takes to turn concept into reality.
