Our Story
Tensor Surgical was founded on the principle of “For Surgeons By Surgeons”.
In 2012 Dr. Brett Sanders was already one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country. His practice was in much demand, but he had a problem. His instruments were clumsy, unreliable, expensive and didn’t deliver results as well as they could have.
In a fortuitous meeting with Keith Harper, CEO of Quantum OPS, an orthopedic positioning systems company, Dr. Sanders shared his frustration. They quickly discussed how it could be remedied by a new kind of tool set, one specifically designed for the work Dr. Sanders was doing. They had a strong conviction that this was the way forward, and combined their efforts to form Tensor Surgical.
Tensor’s goal was to develop an instrumentation set with an emphasis on reproducible gold standard results while reducing overall time and cost in the OR.
By 2013 we had designed and built working prototypes and began use in the OR. Once the system was refined, we gave it to like-minded surgeons to independently verify and confirm the reproducibility of results and cost savings. The next year we launched our Series One Tensor Tunneler. Over the past 5 years, Tensor has sought and incorporated surgeon’s feedback, to continually improve and expand the capabilities of the Rotator Cuff Repair System, consisting of the reusable Tensor Tunneler and Suture Passer tools.
2019 marks the Gold Standard achievement of the RCRS. Surgeons worldwide have come to know and trust Tensor’s instruments, and rely on them for their superior performance and cost savings.
There have been thousands of cases performed, saving surgery centers millions of dollars.
As a result of surgeons discovering and taking advantage of the superior performance of the RCRS system, Tensor has become one of the fastest growing new orthopedic tool companies in the USA.
He has authored multiple journal articles and book chapters in the field and presented research nationally and internationally in the field of shoulder and elbow surgery. A native of Nashville, Dr. Sanders attended college at the University of Virginia, where he was the vice president of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Physics. He subsequently attended the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, where he graduated Alpha Omega Alpha, and performed an Internship in general surgery and a Residency in orthopaedic surgery, both at Emory University. While at Emory, he was elected to the AOA Leadership Conference and provided sports medicine care for Georgia Tech and professional athletes.
Dr. Sanders completed fellowship training in shoulder and sports medicine at Harvard University with complementary training at the ALPS Institute in Annecy, France. He then performed a second fellowship in hand and upper extremity surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.