Orthopedic Surgery Archives

FlexLeg Gives Users With Lower-Leg Injuries Increased Mobility (videos)

by Scott Jung on May 17, 2012 •

FlexLeg diagram FlexLeg Gives Users With Lower Leg Injuries Increased Mobility (videos)Ask anyone who’s ever had to spend part of their life hobbling around on crutches, and they’ll probably agree that it’s a chore. Running, let alone anything faster than a brisk walk, is out of the picture, and ascending or descending stairs becomes an adventure.

FlexLeg FlexLeg Gives Users With Lower Leg Injuries Increased Mobility (videos)A new product, called FlexLeg, from a couple of mechanical engineers from Brigham Young University in Utah, seeks to make life with an injured lower leg a little less burdensome. Looking somewhat like the Cheetah Flex-Foot prostheses that Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius uses, FlexLeg is a hands-free alternative for people with temporary lower-leg injuries to help them walk with a more natural rhythm than using crutches, and for those always on the go, the ability to even run.

It’s not perfect for everyone. FlexLeg is only appropriate for those with lower-leg injuries, and the device is unable to accommodate a cast. For those with minor, yet inconvenient injuries like an ankle sprain, FlexLeg may be a great way to get around at the normal pace of life.

Check out these videos of FlexLeg doing what would be nearly impossible on crutches – assisting a tardy college student dash down the hall to lecture!

More info: FlexLeg.com…

Medgadget Exclusive / Orthopedic Surgery

Device Manufacturing 101: Orthopedic Implants and Instruments

by Scott Jung on May 16, 2012
Device Manufacturing 101: Orthopedic Implants and Instruments

We’re constantly giving you the scoop on the latest in orthopedic devices from our clinical and design perspective, but have you ever wondered about the steps that go into manufacturing these devices? There’s a lot of work in the process that turns an idea into an actual physical product, and often times it’s something we don’t think about.

During our recent trip to Northeast Indiana, we had the opportunity to visit a number of manufacturing sites and learn the high-tech processes and technology that go into producing orthopedic implants and instruments. Here’s how it works!

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Medgadget Exclusive / Orthopedic Surgery / Pathology / Public Health / Rehab / Surgery

A Jet Tour of Northeast Indiana’s Medical Device Hub

by Scott Jung on May 14, 2012
A Jet Tour of Northeast Indiana's Medical Device Hub

This past week, Medgadget was invited to take a tour of Northeast Indiana, a region of ten counties surrounding and encompassing the city of Fort Wayne. You might already know about Warsaw, about 30 miles from Fort Wayne, as the headquarters for DePuy, Biomet, Zimmer, and a number of other companies that make the city the leading orthopedic device leader in the world. However, the rest of Northeast Indiana has also been evolving into a thriving medical device manufacturing hub, as labor is available, land is plentiful, and the region is very open and friendly toward the medical device manufacturing industry. In fact, according to the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, our host for the two day tour, the region has consistently been a leader in terms of dollars invested and jobs created in the industry. Over two days, we toured a number of different companies and talked to a number of executives about what makes their businesses successful and why they’re at a good place being in Northeast Indiana.

Our first stop was Micropulse, a contract manufacturer of implants and instruments for a number of large medical device clients. Micropulse was originally founded to produce parts for the automotive industry, but in the early 2000′s, founder and CEO Brian Emerick saw his business growing stagnant, and so he switched to medical devices and has never looked back since. What’s interesting about Micropulse is that its facilities are also headquarters to the OrthoVation Center, a new incubator for Emerick’s other medical product ventures. The OrthoVation Center currently is home to four companies: Del Palma Orthopedics, Nanovis, BioSpine, and Sites Medical.

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Neurological Surgery / Orthopedic Surgery / Pediatrics

Magnetically Controlled Growing Rods Treat Scoliosis in Children

by Gavin Corley on Apr 25, 2012
Magnetically Controlled Growing Rods Treat Scoliosis in Children

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong and the San Diego Center for Spinal Disorders have been evaluating magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGR) for treating scoliosis in children without the need for repeat surgeries.

Scoliosis in children is more commonly treated by implanting a rod to straighten the spine. As the child’s spine grows, the rods can be lengthened with several invasive, follow-up operations. Naturally, this process is costly and disruptive for the young patients. The new MCGR approach aims to bypass the need for repeat surgeries by carrying out the rod lengthening using a handheld magnetic controller at monthly outpatient appointments.

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Orthopedic Surgery / Radiology

CurveBeam PedCAT Weight-Bearing, In-Office Foot and Ankle CT Scanner FDA Approved

by Wouter Stomp on Apr 25, 2012
CurveBeam PedCAT Weight-Bearing, In-Office Foot and Ankle CT Scanner FDA Approved

CurveBeam has announced it has received FDA approval for its PedCAT foot and ankle CT scanner. The compact scanner, measuring only 121 by 147cm, can be placed in-office and can be used for both weight bearing and non-weight bearing imaging.

The PedCAT employs cone-beam CT technology, which is a variant of CT that uses divergent X-rays that form a cone-shape. Advantages of this technique compared to regular CT are smaller scanner size, greatly reduced radiation dose and shorter scan times. Cone Beam CT imaging is a relatively new technique that has been implemented mainly in dental and ENT practices over the past 10 years, with this being the first application we know of outside of that area.

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Neurological Surgery / Orthopedic Surgery

Medtronic’s New POWEREASE Instruments for Reconstructive Spine Surgery

by Gene Ostrovsky on Apr 18, 2012
Medtronic's New POWEREASE Instruments for Reconstructive Spine Surgery

Medtronic has released its POWEREASE System for performing spinal reconstructive surgery.

The company touts the system as providing greater control and less strain for the surgeon’s hands over manual instruments.

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Neurological Surgery / Neurology / Orthopedic Surgery

The Humble Cervical Collar Gets an Overhaul

by Gavin Corley on Apr 12, 2012
The Humble Cervical Collar Gets an Overhaul

An undergraduate team of three mechanical engineering students and three biomedical engineering students have redesigned the common cervical collar to provide better stabilization for the head and neck of accident victims. The inspiration for the HeadCase cervical collar came from Dr. John Hipp a former director of the Spine Research Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Hipp and his colleagues published a paper in 2010 in The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery reporting abnormal separation between vertebrae in cervical collar users. The HeadCase collar aims to prevent this separation by providing a greater degree of immobilization. Where existing collars are wrapped around the neck, the HeadCase provides support to the cheeks, chest and top of the back.

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Neurology / Orthopedic Surgery

Double Drive Medical Screwdriver to Speed Up Screw Placements

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 27, 2012
Double Drive Medical Screwdriver to Speed Up Screw Placements

The Kobalt Double Drive ratcheting screwdriver turned out to be popular with Christmas time gift shoppers last year. The device allows its user to crank the attached tool in a single direction even when the handle is turned both clockwise and counterclockwise.

Now the same technology is about to be introduced to the medical market via Double Drive Medical, a company founded to translate the mechanics of the screwdriver to the medical world.

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Cardiology / Orthopedic Surgery / Radiology / Surgery

RaySafe i2 Radiation Dosimetry System Keeps Tabs on Clinician’s Exposure

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 26, 2012
RaySafe i2 Radiation Dosimetry System Keeps Tabs on Clinician's Exposure

Clinicians working with C-arms and fluoroscopes in the operating room are subjected to background radiation that scatters off the patient every time an image is taken.  Keeping an eye on personal exposure is important for orthopedic surgeons and others that regularly work around X-ray devices.  Siemens has announced that it’ll be offering the RaySafe i2 system from Unfors RaySafe as an accessory for the Artis zee line of angiography devices.

The RaySafe i2 includes patches that clinicians wear along with a display that provides real time and historical views of exposure that individual clinicians received.

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