DEERFIELD, Ill., Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Surgalign Holdings, Inc., (NASDAQ: SRGA) a global medical technology company focused on elevating the standard of care by driving the evolution of digital health, today announced its HOLO Portal surgical guidance system won the 2022 Best New Spine Technology Award presented by Orthopedics This Week, the most widely read publication in the orthopedics industry. The award will be presented at the North American Spine Society (NASS) Annual Meeting in Chicago on October 13.

The annual Orthopedics This Week Spine Technology Awards recognize the next generation of exemplary and innovative technologies designed to improve spine care and the engineering teams and inventors who create them. Winning submissions are voted on by a panel of leading surgeons with clinical and research experience in robotics, cervical care, thoracolumbar care, motion preservation, minimally invasive spine care, and biomaterials and biologics. Winning submissions are judged according to originality, clinical relevance, clinical problem solving, likelihood of improving patient outcomes, and cost effectiveness.

“The treatment of debilitating back pain is undergoing a significant revolution in terms of technology and patient outcomes,” said Robin Young, founder and publisher of Orthopedics This Week. “The 2022 jury of senior spine and neurosurgeons voted Surgalign’s HOLO Portal the ‘Best New Technology of 2022.’ In order to win, HOLO Portal had to convince the jury it solved a current clinical problem, improved patient standard of care, was cost effective and “I would use it.” Congratulations to Surgalign’s engineering staff and scientists for this great accomplishment.”

HOLO Portal is the world’s first surgical guidance system to incorporate AI and AR. The system’s AI processes intraoperative images to autonomously segment and label the anatomy and plan patient-specific pedicle screw trajectories that are approved by the surgeon. The HOLO Portal system uses AR to overlay the segmented AI reconstruction over the patient’s actual anatomy, providing real-time 3D visualization throughout the surgical procedure. This AR display helps surgeons visualize trajectories and guides surgical instruments.

In January 2022, the Company received U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for use of the HOLO Portal system within lumbar spine procedures. The Company is currently expanding the system’s limited market release and intends to further increase its clinical site locations throughout the year. As cases are performed and data is accumulated, the Company also intends to integrate new applications on its platform to advance the quality of care and improve outcomes for patients.

“It is truly an honor to receive this prestigious award from Orthopedics This Week. It is especially validating that it was decided on by a panel of distinguished spine and neurological surgeons,” said Cristian Luciano, vice president of research and development at Surgalign and a founder of Holo Surgical Inc, where HOLO Portal was first developed. “This recognition is a testament to the dedicated efforts of our talented engineers, scientists, and physicians over the past seven years. Coupled with the outstanding clinical performance of the system to date and positive surgeon feedback, this adds to our already high expectations as we work toward our goal to improve patient outcomes and save lives with our AR and AI technologies."

“We thank Orthopedics This Week and the panel of distinguished surgeon judges for recognizing the innovation of this technology,” said Terry Rich, president and CEO of Surgalign. “This peer recognition from leading orthopedic and neurosurgeons and the most-read publication in the orthopedic industry, is a testament to the efforts of an outstanding team of engineers, scientists and physicians. I couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments to date and the progress we have made over the past year to obtain 510(k) clearance for HOLO Portal, further our commercialization initiatives, and expand our reach. We are excited to now debut the HOLO Portal system at industry events, including NASS.”

The Company will be showcasing its HOLO Portal surgical guidance system (booth #4841) during the 37^th Annual NASS Meeting on October 12-15, 2022, at McCormick Place-West Building in Chicago, IL.

About Surgalign Holdings, Inc.
Surgalign Holdings, Inc. is a global medical technology company committed to the promise of digital health to drive transformation across the surgical landscape. Uniquely aligned and resourced to advance the standard of care, the company is building technologies physicians and other health providers will look to for what is truly possible for their patients. Surgalign is focused on developing solutions that predictably deliver superior clinical and economic outcomes. Surgalign markets products throughout the United States and in approximately 50 countries worldwide through an expanding network of top independent distributors. Surgalign is headquartered in Deerfield, IL, with commercial, innovation and design centers in San Diego, CA, Warsaw and Poznan, Poland, and Wurmlingen, Germany. Learn more at www.surgalign.com and connect on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on management’s current expectations, estimates and projections about our products, company, and industry, our management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by our management. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," and other variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the features, capabilities and benefits of the HOLO Portal system. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the risks described in our public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Our actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results reflected in these forward-looking statements. Copies of the company's SEC filings may be obtained by contacting the company or the SEC or by visiting Surgalign's website at www.surgalign.com or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.