John M. Abrahams1, Jin Ye Yeo2
1Neurosurgery, New York Brain & Spine Surgery, White Plains, NY, USA; 2ASJ AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. ASJ Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: asj@amegroups.com
This interview can be cited as: Abrahams JM, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of ASJ: Dr. John M. Abrahams. AME Surg J. 2025. Available from: https://asj.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-asj-dr-john-m-abrahams.
Expert introduction
Dr. John M Abrahams (Figure 1) is a private practice neurosurgeon in White Plains, NY. He received his medical degree from New York Medical College after receiving his undergraduate degree in Physics at Le Moyne College and a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He completed his internship in General Surgery at New York University Medical Center and completed his residency in Neurological Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. During his residency, he completed a research Fellowship at the Institute of Medicine and Engineering and a Mini-Fellowship in Spine Surgery also at the same time. After residency, he was attending neurosurgeon at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, training under Dr. Eugene Flamm, learning complex cranial procedures and developing his spine practice. He then entered into private practice and now focuses mostly on elective spine surgery.
Dr. Abrahams holds numerous patents and founded a number of biomedical companies. He founded Endomedix (Montclair, NJ) in 2009, which developed a cranial hemostat and is entering large animal trials. In 2019, he founded Capseus Medical, which developed a bone dust collector currently used across multiple health systems, and in 2022, he founded DTX Medical, which developed a digital health platform for healthcare providers and was sold to Memora Health in 2024.
Dr. Abrahams is a Fellow of the American Board of Neurologic Surgeons, a Member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and an Ad Hoc reviewer for the journals, Neurosurgery and World Neurosurgery.
Figure 1 Dr. John M. Abrahams
Interview
ASJ: You have had a fascinating career trajectory from physics to biomedical engineering and then neurosurgery. How did your background in these fields shape your approach to neurosurgery, particularly in spine surgery?
Dr. Abrahams: Because of my engineering background, I was able to look at problems in surgery differently with the desire to invent and solve them. One of my first inventions was a sealant to occlude aneurysms that grew into a hemostatic agent for brain and spine surgery (Endomedix). The technology is still under development, but it will be one of the first hemostats that can contract after implementation rather than expand. My engineering background allowed me to develop this technology with other engineers, leading to several publications and issued patents.
ASJ: How do you see the future of spine surgery evolving, especially with emerging artificial intelligence (AI) and neurosurgical robotics?
Dr. Abrahams: Robotics has some time to go because real spinal robotics will require more of a semi-autonomous setup where the robot does most of the work rather than the surgeon. I see two areas of robotics that are near-term: (1) autonomous placement of pedicle screws and (2) an automated anterior cervical diskectomy tool to perform the decompression automatically. AI is much closer as a technology, but the difficult part will be to merge the disparate data sets that need to speak to each other. Outpatient outcome data, intra-operative data, and payor data need to be merged into a single data set to truly evaluate the outcome, surgical skill, and actual costs. This a monumental task that will most likely require intervention at the society or government level.
ASJ: You have founded several biomedical companies, including Endomedix, Capseus Medical, and DTX Medical. What inspired you to make the leap from clinical practice to entrepreneurship and innovation in the biomedical field?
Dr. Abrahams: I simply wanted to see a better way in each of the companies. Endomedix was difficult because we set out to develop a Class III device, which is very costly and time-consuming. The FDA requirements make a Class III device approval process extremely difficult and risky. The longer you take to develop, the greater the chance that your competitor can develop something better and beat you to the market. Capseus was a little easier because we developed a Bone Dust Collector that turned out to be a Regulation; much easier than a 510k or Pre-Market Approval device. DTX Medical was the easiest because we entered the Digital Health boom once CMS approved Remote Physiologic Monitoring and Remote Therapeutic Monitoring CPT Codes.
ASJ: Your recent venture, DTX Medical, culminated in a successful sale to Memora Health. How did the digital health platform you developed contribute to improving healthcare providers’ capabilities?
Dr. Abrahams: The software was automated to collect patient outcome data from patients with an orthopedic or respiratory diagnosis. Surveys were sent to the patients’ phones, and they answered using the SMS interface on their smartphones. We had approximately 40% of the patients complete their surveys for excellent outcome data. Memora Health developed similar technology, but it was not associated with any codes. We could bill through Remote Therapeutic Monitoring CPT Codes, generating revenue for providers with outcome data. Healthcare providers were reluctant to collect accurate outcome data because traditionally, you needed to hire additional staff at an expense; we alleviated this problem with a simple solution that generated revenue for the provider.
ASJ: As someone who has patented numerous technologies, what were some of the biggest challenges you encountered, and how did you overcome them?
Dr. Abrahams: Writing out new ideas is easy; it is the execution, persistence, and eventual success that takes work and dedication. Once you submit a patent, you then must tackle comments from a patent examiner and then spend the money to fight for your claims, making your case through your patent lawyer contributing a significant amount of your time. I think the biggest mistake most young or new entrepreneurs make is not realizing the dedication of time and money necessary to develop new technology. A simple tool to develop for the operation, such as in Capseus’ case, cost upwards of $1 M and took over 24 months to develop. Most young or new entrepreneurs will give up after the first failure or bad result. You must stay the course and finish the task.
ASJ: Looking back, what has been the most rewarding part of your work in both neurosurgery and biomedical entrepreneurship?
Dr. Abrahams: Spine surgery is great because a lot of time we perform a simple surgery and transform someone’s life with crippling radiculopathy or myelopathy. I am also proud to show patients my inventions in the operating room that can help with their surgery and get them back to a normal life.
ASJ: As an Editorial Board Member, what are your expectations and aspirations for ASJ?
Dr. Abrahams: I think the journal should focus on highlighting new technology as it emerges to bring to its audience. This should include the most interesting topics such as robotics, virtual reality, and data science/artificial intelligence.