VisionAir Solutions creates patient-specific airway stents with its 3D-design platform.
Theken Companies, a family of medical device companies based in Akron, Ohio, has announced its acquisition of VisionAir Solutions from Cleveland Clinic.
“We are excited to collaborate with Randy Theken and the new VisionAir team. They continue to share our vision of bringing innovative technology to as many patients as possible,” shared Thomas Gildea, MD, FCCP, FACP, of Cleveland Clinic and Inventor and Head of the Clinical Advisory Team at VisionAir Solutions
VisionAir Solutions is known for its innovative cloud software, VisionAir 3D Stent Architect, which allows pulmonologists to create personalized silicone stents for patients with symptomatic central airway obstruction. These patient-specific stents have an average life of years, compared to the average stock stent life of 60 days. The acquisition of VisionAir Solutions is exciting news for the pulmonary field, and has the potential to lead to innovative technology for other medical devices.
Press Release via PR Newswire
AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Theken Companies, an Akron, Ohio-based family of medical device companies, today announced its acquisition of VisionAir Solutions from Cleveland Clinic.
VisionAir Solutions creates patient-specific airway stents with its 3D-design platform. VisionAir 3D Patient-Specific Stents provide improved stent life, increased time between interventions, and reduced complications for an improved quality of life.
VisionAir 3D Stents are personalized by pulmonologists using innovative cloud software (VisionAir 3D Stent Architect). With this unique software a physician simply uploads a patient’s scans and receives a personalized silicone stent within days that fits the patient’s specific anatomy near to perfect. This allows physicians to tailor a 3D Stent to each patient’s unique anatomy to reduce complications caused by poorly-fitting stock silicone stents. Instead of an average stock stent life of 60 days, these patient-specific stents have an average life of years, although the VisionAir stent is clinically approved by the FDA for one year. To see how simple the process is, view the video here: https://www.visionairsolutions.com/videos#simple-as-1-2-3
VisionAir stents have broad indications for the treatment of symptomatic central airway obstruction (CAO) in mature individuals that are 22 years of age or older. 3D Stents may be implanted in any location in the airway that a physician can reach with a rigid bronchoscope for implantation. This means that the 3D Stent is unique in that it can be designed to fit carinas distal to the main carina, while current traditional silicone Y-stents have stock diameters, angles, and lengths specifically designed for only the main carina.
Randy Theken, Founder of Theken Companies, said of the acquisition, “I was truly overwhelmed by the technology created by the VisionAir team at Cleveland Clinic. The VisionAir 3D Patient-Specific Stents provide significantly improved stent life and an improved patient quality of life. This is exciting not only for the pulmonary field, but for the potential to apply this technology to other medical devices.”
Thomas Gildea, MD, FCCP, FACP, of Cleveland Clinic and Inventor and Head of the Clinical Advisory Team at VisionAir Solutions, stated, “We are excited to collaborate with Randy Theken and the new VisionAir team. They continue to share our vision of bringing innovative technology to as many patients as possible.” Cleveland Clinic has an equity interest in VisionAir and is entitled to royalty payments and other commercialization revenues from the company for technology developed at Cleveland Clinic. VisionAir is the developer and manufacturer of the stents. Dr. Gildea and others at Cleveland Clinic are inventors and are entitled to royalty payments and other commercialization revenues from the company in accordance with Cleveland Clinic policy.
About Theken Companies
Theken Companies, LLC is a family of medical device companies headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Theken has successfully founded over ten medical implant device companies since 1992. Three of these companies (Theken Spine LLC, Theken Disc LLC, Therics, LLC) were acquired in 2009 by Integra LifeSciences. Theken then founded five new medical device companies focused on joint replacements, medical ceramics, medical microelectronics, medical antimicrobial coatings, and medical 3D printing and manufacturing. Theken now adds VisionAir Solutions to its portfolio. Learn more about Theken’s history at: www.theken.us
About VisionAir Solutions
VisionAir 3D Stents are personalized silicone stents tailored to a patient’s unique airway anatomy and are manufactured using our proprietary cloud-based software and 3D-printed medical-grade silicone technology. It’s known as the “physicians’ preferred airway stent” because it has a patient-perfect fit, multi-year stent life, with reduced complications. Learn more at: www.visionairsolutions.com
SOURCE VisionAir Solutions
