Columbia, MD – Voyant Health, Ltd. introduces KingMark™—an innovative, double-marker, calibration device that virtually eliminates errors in positioning markers on patients for hip replacements. Developed by orthopedic surgeon Mr. Richard King, at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, in collaboration with Professor Damian Griffin at the University of Warwick’s ’s Medical School, KingMark works in concert with Voyant Health’s digital templating software, TraumaCad™.

In the United States, more than 200,000 people have total hip replacements each year—and the numbers are growing dramatically. By 2030, it’s expected there will be well over 500,000 total hip replacements in the United States. KingMark offers the first reliable method of routinely measuring radiological hip magnification, which will improve the accuracy of pre-operative planning and save surgeons and radiology departments time and money.

KingMark uses two separate radio-opaque markers—one behind the pelvis and the other in front, as the patient lies supine. The anterior marker is a flexible strap that secures radio-opaque balls at regular intervals. The posterior marker is a radiolucent pad with steel rods embedded in a vertical row. TraumaCad automatically detects the presence of KingMark in an x-ray, determines the magnification percentage, and sizes the image accurately.

Professor of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery at Warwick Medical School, Professor Damian Griffin said, “KingMark has removed all of the uncertainty about scaling digital radiographs for hip replacement. Our radiographers find it easy to use, and I can be confident that the measurements I make on scaled radiographs are correct. It is now unusual for my pre-operative templating not to be exactly right.”

Orthopedic surgeon at UHCW, Mr. Steve Krikler added, “Since changing to KingMark I have found the acetabular cup size to be very accurately predicted from the template, and the femoral size is also much more accurately predicted. I am now much more confident in choosing the stem offset and other parameters which are within my control. I always template my arthroplasties in TraumaCad and I will only accept pre-operative images which include KingMark.”

Warwick Ventures (who deal with the commercialization of the University’s intellectual property) approached Voyant Health, the makers of TraumaCad. The company saw the immense potential for the product to address one of the main concerns in pre-operative planning—accurate positioning of calibration markers. Immediately, Voyant Health secured exclusive, global distribution rights to this patented technology.

“Before KingMark, accurate calibration relied on a single marker being exactly located in the coronal plane of the hips, requiring special expertise and extra time from technicians,” said Adam Ehrenraich, M.D., Vice President of Clinical Solutions at Voyant Health. “KingMark is quick and easy to position correctly, even on very large patients—eliminating mistakes that affect accurate calibration during pre-operative planning. And, a nice side benefit is that KingMark is much less awkward for patients and staff—eliminating intrusive positioning of a device between the patient’s thighs.”

“TraumaCad is the perfect complement for KingMark, because it takes all the guesswork out of calibrating images”, said Zeev Glozman, CEO of Voyant Health. “TraumaCad automatically detects the presence of KingMark’s balls and rods within an image, determines the magnification percentage, and sizes the image accurately.”

Voyant Health will unveil KingMark at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), March 9-13, 2010 in New Orleans, LA at the Morial Convention Center, Hall A, Booth #169. The product will be available worldwide following its launch. For more information about KingMark, visit www.voyanthealth.com/kingmark.