Definately not the same... Zimmer and Synthes separate companies with competing interests. I've seen similar systems for the past several conferences. Some have very interesting twists... others are just ways to get a flexible rod involved in a pedicle screw system.
N Spine’s NFlex/NFix II - (
From ChinaBioToday.com.)
Zimmer's Dynesys / DTO - from
Zimmer's website:
I had a very interesting discussion on Saturday with Dr. Bertagnoli about the various designs... pros and cons. These devices are pretty new... the fusion capabilities of the pedicle screw systems are well known. It turns out that they get FDA approval WITHOUT clinical trials for these new devices that are marketed to the patients as motion preservation technology, because the flexible systems actually speed the fusion process. (That is when fusion is the intention and cages, bone graft, BMP and other fusion technologies are employed.)
I hope this is helpful,
Mark