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The origins
of the company date to 1974 when Drs Buechel and Pappas began
their collaboration. By 1978 they had developed quite novel
shoulder, knee and ankle implants using mobile bearings. The
mobile bearing concept is instrumental in the design of knee
and ankle prostheses using plastic on metal joint articulations
which are capable of providing natural joint mobility at contact
pressures that can safely be tolerated by the plastics used
for replacement joints. Because of the importance of these
new designs, they were all licensed to DePuy who intended
to manufacture and sell them.
Drs. Buechel
and Pappas continued to refine these designs and to develop
new replacement joint designs under the corporate entity Biomedical
Engineering Corp. By 1982 it became clear that for several
reasons DePuy would not be interested in licensing all of
the devices developed by Drs. Buechel and Pappas. Thus they
founded “Endomedics” to manufacture and sell their
designs. Endotec was formed in 1988 and is solely owned by
Drs. Buechel and Pappas.
Endotec
Inc was formed and dedicated to the development, manufacture
and sale of implant systems of advanced design and materials.
Its particular interest is in advanced materials. By the formation
of Endotec after Drs. Buechel and Pappas had been involved
in the design and development of improved joint replacement
systems for fourteen years using those materials commonly
in use for joint replacement. It became clear that additional
advances required the use of new materials. Thus the development
of such materials and processes for effectively using them
became a focus of development efforts of Drs. Buechel and
Pappas. In particular these efforts have been, and are, associated
with reducing wear, and its effects in replacement joints.
Endotec
Inc and its predecessor companies have been active in the
development of special purpose testing machines such as joint
motion and force simulators since 1978 when Drs. Buechel and
Pappas presented their work in knee simulation at an international
conference. Since then they have been intensively involved
in the development and use of wear testing machines as part
of their effort associated with the development and use of
materials that reduce wear in joint replacements.
This effort
has resulted in the development of UltraCoat®, a ceramic
coating Endotec uses on its titanium implants. Our tests show
this coating greatly reduces wear of the polyethylene bearing
used in almost all replacement joints. Such wear and its biological
effects is the most important complication associated with
joint implants. In particular a 48 million cycle hip simulation
of an UltraCoat femoral component articulating against a polyethylene
bearing demonstrated that wear in such a hip joint replacement
over this number of cycles was barely measurable. This test
is unusual, not only due to its very welcome result, but also
in its length. Typical joint simulation tests only run for
a few million cycles, insufficient to demonstrate long-term
effects. Such thoroughness in design and development is a
hallmark of Endotec commitment to excellence.
Endotec
is dominated by research and development activity. Our research
and development costs and efforts greatly exceed those of
our marketing and sales. Endotec’s primary interest
is to design and make the best orthopaedic products available,
regardless of profit. This is why Endotec is a small company,
and will probably remain so. We may be out of step with market
and economic realities, but our determined dedication to the
advancement of science and technology is the source of our
inspiration and pride.
Above
all, the purpose of all this research and development is to
benefit the patients: to develop and manufacture implant products
that materially affect a patient’s quality of life for
the better; to eliminate pain, restore lost function, and,
thus, to free patients from torment, and help restore them
to a near normal life. Accomplishing this is the source of
our greatest satisfaction.
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