Anna Fischer
October 25, 2016
A five-year-old boy named Jojo from a village near Munich was diagnosed with a rare malignant tumor called Ewing`s Sarcoma. Usually found in the diaphysis (middle part) of long bones Jojo`s tumor was located in the distal part of his left femur and very close to the growth plate. Since tumor-endoprostheses are not available for such young children due to their small anatomical dimensions, an amputation or rotation plasty has to be performed in these cases.
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Anna Young
September 28, 2016
Both high tibial osteotomy (HTO) and distal femoral osteotomy (DFO) procedures aren’t always straightforward and may require an alternative method to be adopted when planning for surgery. Innovative software and services are available to simplify the planning process and increase predictability of the surgical outcome.
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Anna Young
September 13, 2016
From x-ray-based pre-operative planning and templating software to patient-specific solutions which employ 3D technologies, orthopaedic surgeons have access to an array of software and services to assist them when planning for successful surgical outcomes.
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Sjoerd Kolk
August 26, 2016
The shoulder is a truly extraordinary joint, as it allows a full 180-degree range of vertical and horizontal motion. Unfortunately, the downside of this flexibility is that the more a joint can do, the more that can go wrong. The shoulder joint can wear out due to age, infection or trauma, leading to pain and a loss of function. When it comes to researching solutions to these problems, the shoulder surgeons at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute (FOI) and the researchers at the Foundation for Orthopaedic Research & Education (FORE) in Tampa, Florida, lead the way as one of the most reputable shoulder research collaborations in the world.
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30-year-old Partiban from Malaysia was an avid futsal player until he started noticing pain in his left knee throughout one year. The pain worsened until he had difficulties squatting and running; it eventually caused him to stop playing futsal. The patient was referred to Prof. Dr. Azhar M. Merican, who deduced that the underlying cause for the pain was a deformity of the patient’s left upper tibia. The deformity was due to the malunion of a fracture sustained in a motor vehicle accident when the patient was 14 years old. At the time, the fracture had been treated with a plaster cast.
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American surgical device company DJO was having challenges prior to the launch of their new implant, the TaperFill™ Hip Stem, a shorter femur stem designed to be inserted through a direct anterior approach hereby sparing the critical posterior soft tissue. The design of the implant proved to be very tricky as it needed to fit closely in the cortical bone to ensure stability. As there was not much room for error, it was difficult to create a design that fit a maximum amount of patients, since every anatomy differs slightly from person to person. DJO optimized the hip with the help of image-based population analysis.
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Anyone who has ever had a broken arm, sprained ankle or anything that requires wearing a cast undoubtedly remembers how uncomfortable it was. Sure, it was fun to get everyone’s signature on your arm or leg, but that didn’t make up for the itchiness, the rash and the difficulties involved when taking a shower. A bright team of engineers at Michigan Technological University thought there had to be a better solution, and came up with a lightweight, porous, 3D-printed alternative instead.
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Dr. Matthew Allen, Professor of Small Animal Surgery at the University of Cambridge, was faced with a challenging case when he encountered Bella, the Romanian Bucovina Shepherd dog. Bella was plagued with severe mobility problems due to an extremely painful knee joint which had been damaged by disease from a young age.
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Meet Yano De Laet, a young boy who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a permanent movement disorder caused by a lesion in the developmental brain which causes muscle weakness, abnormal tone, movement disorders and balance problems. The brain damage often occurs before or during the birth of the child, and there is no cure for the condition. Yano regularly undergoes consultations at the Cerebral Palsy Reference Center at Pellenberg, UZ Leuven in Belgium, and after hearing about the Hibbot, his doctor thought he would be an ideal candidate for the project.
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Anna Fischer
June 27, 2016
German patient Inge W. had been afflicted with a hip malformation since her birth. Due to an extensive number of intense surgeries and revisions throughout her life, there was very little bone left in her pelvic region, leaving a large hole in the bone and making it very difficult to attach a standard hip implant. As her condition grew worse, it seemed that Inge had no other choice but to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Fortunately, she was able to walk again with the help of a patient-specific 3D-printed hip implant.
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