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Medtronic’s new integrated robotic spine surgery system has begun treating its first U.S. patients, just months after last year’s acquisition of Mazor Robotics and a clearance from the FDA. The medtech giant recently launched the Mazor X Stealth Edition, which combines Medtronic’s navigation platform with Mazor’s robotic guidance systems. The device provides three-dimensional planning tools and real-time visualization in the operating room for guided procedures.
The Milken Institute has just released its annual “Best-Performing Cities” index for 2018. It was mostly positive news for Tennessee with four of five areas in the large cities category moving up. Only Nashville, which ranked eighth in 2017, showed a decline, down to 25th.
Intellectual property (IP) systems are designed in large part to provide adequate incentives for creators and inventors to invest in the production of novel ideas and content, while at the same time encouraging beneficial diffusion of knowledge. For example, publishing patent disclosures ensures inventors can learn from each other, and limiting patent terms to 20 years ensures they can build on each other’s innovations. As we move deeper into the data-driven economy, policymakers should take into account the need to maintain such a balance as they consider the relationship between IP rights and data.
