To assist Allen Hershey, MD in licensing medical device for minimally invasive hip replacement

Soquel Group Selected for Licensing and Partner DevelopmentMonterey, CA – June 5, 2008 (For Immediate Release): Allen Hershey, MD, and Soquel Group today announced a new tool, the Shark Tooth Starter Broach, for performing minimally invasive hip replacement surgery. Measuring approximately 6 centimeters in length, the Shark Tooth is a much smaller broach than currently available in the toolkits provided with hip replacement systems. The Shark Tooth enables surgeons to more easily prepare the femur for joint implants through a smaller incision. The design of the new broach allows proper orientation of the broach when limited by the constraints of the anatomy of the anterior approach or when spatial constraints pose a problem.“Use of the Shark Tooth will make preparation of the femur safer and easier,” said Bert Tardieu, MD, of Precision Orthopedics after watching Dr. Hershey perform a procedure using the new tool.The design of the Shark Tooth is especially useful when using the anterior approach for hip arthroplasty where confined space may pose a problem for the surgeon when using standard broaches. Its compact and curved shape is markedly different than previously available broaches.

In 2007, having performed hundreds of hip replacements over a decade, Dr. Allen Hershey felt another tool was needed to aid in the opening of the femoral neck when hip surgery was performed in confined anatomic spaces (such as in minimally invasive hip surgery). Dr. Hershey had the idea to design a new tool, an “opening broach” which was a very short slightly curved broach resembling a shark’s tooth. He had such a broach tooled and has been using it successfully ever since. Dr. Hershey has filed a U.S. patent covering the Shark Tooth.

As a practicing surgeon, Dr. Allen Hershey seeks partners to manufacture and market the Shark Tooth Starter Broach. Dr. Hershey offers to license the Shark Tooth design and patent.

Dr. Hershey has selected Soquel Group to assist with licensing and partner development. Headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA, Soquel Group provides patent and business services to inventors.

About Allen Hershey, MD

Allen Hershey, MD, completed an orthopedic surgery residency at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR in 1995, a fellowship in “Lower extremity reconstruction” at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, CA in 1996 and has been practicing orthopedic surgery in Salinas, CA since. His practice emphasizes hip and knee replacement surgery using minimally invasive and computer navigation techniques.

About Soquel Group

Soquel Group provides strategic services to innovative technology companies including patent drafting, prosecution, and commercialization. The Company’s principal office is in Santa Cruz, CA. Additional information about the company can be found at www.soquelgroup.com.

For further information please contact:
Robert Blumberg
Managing Director, Soquel Group
P.O. Box 691, Soquel, CA 95073
Tel: (831) 426-8200
Email: rblumberg@soquelgroup.com

Links:
Data Sheet for Shark Tooth Starter Broach
Website for Dr. Allen Hershey