Meet the man who is making medical devices for the masses

Avner Spector was the kid on the block who repaired children’s broken bicycles. So, when he wanted a skateboard, and they were unavailable in Israel, he made one himself.

“I’ve always liked to design machines, fix machines; it’s been my passion since I was a child,” Spector told The Jerusalem Post.

But as a child, he had dyslexia and was unsure where life would take him. Decades later, he is a successful businessman and inventor, improving lives with the medical equipment he designs.

His family has been in Israel for generations. On one side, his relatives were founders of Gadera (Habiluim). On the other, they helped found Mazkeret Batya, a mixed community in Central Israel. His father was a consultant to the American Navy, which led to the establishment of his company in 1972, Spectronix, known today for having one of the highest quality fire detection and suppression systems. 

His father and brother opened their first factory in Sderot, and it was always assumed that when Spector completed his own army service, he would go and work alongside his father and brother. Spector loved spending time in the factory and decided to become a mechanical engineer and work in the company’s research and development department. He learned “to solve problems there,” he said. 

At age 18, Spector was drafted to the IDF and served as a tank driver during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He fought the famous battle of the Valley of Tears with Amnon Lavy, Avigdor Kahalani and others from Battalion #77 of the 7th Division.

Although massively outnumbered, the Israeli forces managed to hold their positions and on the fourth day of the battle, the Syrians withdrew, just as the Israeli defenses were almost at the point of collapse. This battle was a milestone for Spector, who became an optimistic, hard-working entrepreneur that never gives up.

Electro-Hydraulic Acoustic Therapy

Spector opened Medispec in 1992. Today, the company operates in 44 countries. It was the first medical device manufacturer to apply electro-Hydraulic Acoustic Therapy (eHAT) to sexual health indications for both men and women. 

eHAT is an acoustic wave treatment using less intensity than traditional shockwave treatments. Several studies have shown effectiveness in treating musculoskeletal disorders, myocardial ischemia and erectile dysfunction.

Medispec today boasts over a dozen products and offers solutions in urology and cardiology to orthopedics. 

Three years ago, Spector founded Curespec. Curespec’s first developed and introduced product is Nephrospec, which uses eHAT to treat chronic kidney disease (CKD) by promoting new blood vessel formation and restoring damaged tissue function. Today, Nephrospec is a CE marked market-ready product. 

This new approach was made available by Curespec for people that are suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) to postpone or avoid the need for dialysis. Treatment is painless, and sustained improvement is seen after only six treatment sessions over a three-week period.

Spector believes that shortly it will be proven effective to use Nephrospec not only for CKD but also for diabetic kidney disease, acute kidney injury and even kidney transplant. Although there is no research describing eHAT in transplant, “the premise is intriguing,” he said. Studies are expected to evaluate whether that could improve allograft outcomes in addition to standard immunosuppression in kidney transplants.

Today, Curespec already has three registered patents. There have also been six pre-clinical publications. The first clinical results from human trials have been published in four professional medical international congresses. Moreover, Curespec was recently acknowledged by the MassChallenge U.S. Early-Stage accelerator.

For the people

Spector admits he is not a doctor. Naturally, therefore, he needs help understanding the medical problems. But he understands how to find solutions for them; that is where his passion comes from. 

“I see what exists, and I think, how can I do it for less money or easier to use?” Spector told the Post. “I want to bring products to the market that provide better care that is more affordable.”

In the case of Curespec, he said CKD is a “terrible disease” and being on dialysis is “an awful way to live.

“I concentrate most of my time today on trying to bring clinical trials to fruition and to get this product to the people so that they can have a better quality of life,” Spector concluded. 

This article was written in cooperation with Curespec.