Philippine firm makes knee implants affordable

July 22, 2015

By Rainier Allan Ronda
Source: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/07/22/1479637/philippine-firm-makes-knee-implants-affordable

A local medical devices firm has developed capacity to manufacture high quality and affordable knee implants for those suffering from severe arthritis. File photo/AP photo

MANILA, Philippines - A local medical devices firm, with funding support from the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), has developed capacity to manufacture high quality and affordable knee implants for those suffering from severe arthritis.

Jude Sasing, president of Orthopaedic International, which is controlled by Filipino surgeon and inventor Ramon Gustilo, said the breakthrough knee implant is now available in the market and is made more affordable for Filipinos who want knee replacements.

During a PCHRD global health networking forum the other day, Sasing said that they will also provide knee replacement surgery training for all general orthopedic surgeons in the country to make it more affordable.

The training, he added, will allow local general orthopedic surgeons to be capable of doing knee replacements without undergoing the usual one-year fellowship training.

“So far we have trained close to 40 surgeons and we’re going around the country to train more,” Sasing said.

In introducing the remedy, Sasing said top orthopedic surgeons, engineers and consultants from the US, Japan and China participated in the research and development phase of the product it called the Axis Knee System.

“But this was mainly a work of Filipino surgeons and engineers,” Sasing added.

A knee replacement procedure costs P250,000 to P450,000. But Sasing claimed that the use of the Axis Knee System reduces the amount by 40 to 50 percent.