A safe, use-at-home traction device for treating neck injuries
In orthopedics, traction is the practice of relieving pressure on the skeletal system by using weights or other means to create space between vertebrae. It alleviates pain and speeds up the healing process of patients who have experienced neck or spinal injuries. Since these injuries can be chronic and long term, it is critical for patients to have treatments that are covered under standard health insurance plans.
Physical Therapist, Duane Saunders was also an inventor, entrepreneur and businessman. He envisioned an innovative pneumatic traction device that was easy to use and avoided the risk of TMJ syndrome. With the Saunders invention, the patient would lie on the device and it would pneumatically apply up to 50 pounds of traction towards the back of the head, which avoided placing pressure on the patient’s jaw.
Two main objectives were identified:
- The highest quality standards must be met
- An established target cost, that was desirable for patients and approved for insurance company reimbursement, must be met
The Saunders team approached several contract manufacturers but they were unable to meet the 2 objectives. Then somewhat by chance Mr. Saunders was introduced to KDI’s original founders, Doug Kluge and Glenn Campbell. Together, they developed Saunder’s initial concept and achieved both the target cost and the demanded level of performance.
KDI provided complete Contract Manufacturing services including:
- Vendor qualification
- Materials planning
- Service and repair
- Continuing Engineering
In addition, they developed 2 lumbar models and several clinical models; providing a family of traction products for The Saunders Group to sell.
Total sales volumes grew from 4,000 to over 45,000 units per year, bolstered by the device’s approval for Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement. As the volumes grew, KDI and Saunders were successful in redesigning the units, taking advantage of higher volumes to improve features and reduce costs.
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