Case Study: Innovative Medical Designs Inc. achieves a nerve‑protecting SurgiFile for safer spine surgery with 3D Systems

Machinist, Heal Thyself with GibbsCAM

Innovative Medical Designs, Inc., founded by machinist-engineer Rick Harp in Carlsbad, CA, set out to solve a personal and clinical problem: Harp’s neck injury highlighted the lack of instruments capable of relieving nerve compression in the spine without resorting to fusion surgery. Surgeons had no safe way to open the narrow foraminal canals without risking nerve damage, so Harp leveraged his design and machining expertise to create a minimally invasive alternative.

The result is the SurgiFile: a thin, flat cutting file that works over a protective metal shield, driven by a Hybrid Twin Toroid cam follower that converts rotary motion into smooth, vibration-free reciprocation, with pressurized sterile water flushing bone debris. Prototypes were machined using GibbsCAM and a Fadal VMC and have produced promising cadaver test results with leading spine surgeons; the company is now seeking $10–15M to fund FDA approvals and move to high‑volume production.

Innovative Medical Designs Inc.

Rick Harp

Founder-President