Potential New Surgery: Roboimplant

[Paper05]

Hi all

I found this website and would like to share it with you. A man named Dr Michael Harrison is working on a device called Roboimplant.

1) A website on him is:
http://pedsurglab.surgery.ucsf.edu/r...rison-lab.aspx

2) Dr Michael Harrison's full biography: http://pedsurglab.surgery.ucsf.edu/p...rrison-md.aspx

3) More about the Roboimplant: http://www.pediatricdeviceconsortium...es/roboimplant

Please tell me what you guys think. I would really appreciate your feedback! Also, should anyone find any useful information regarding Roboimplant, may I request that you could put it up here too to share with all of us? Thank you!

[tonibunny]

I'm a bit confused by this:

"Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis is a curving of the spine. The spine curves away from the middle or sideway. If the curvature is severe, bracing and surgery may be necessary. Currently rods and screws are placed on the spine during surgery to slowly restore the spine to a normal position. The repair takes years and involves as many as eight operations to adjust the rods to the desired configuration. This can be a very painful process for the child and in some cases the results are anything but acceptable. Currently there are approximately 33,000 children who undergo the surgery in the US alone."


Surgery for AIS usually involves just one surgery (or two surgeries done within days of each other, if a 2-stage procedure is being performed) and that's it. Repeated procedures are not to be expected. What seems to be being described here sounds more like standard growth rod surgery, which is generally used for children who have infantile or juvenile scoliosis, or in occasional cases of AIS in which the child still has a lot of growth left.

I suspect that whoever wrote the blurb for the website has made a mistake, rather than Dr Harrison being unaware of this. I'd imagine that he has designed these for use in younger children.

Magnetic growth rods have actually already begun to be used in London, at Great Ormond Street Hospital. I am not sure who they are designed/manufactured by.

[Paper05]

Hi tonibunny

That is an interesting point that you brought up. I had no idea magnetic growth rods were used in treatment already. Is it in trials?

[tonibunny]

I'm not sure I'm afraid, I just know that they are already being implanted in children at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The surgeon involved is called Hilali Noordeen (he's one of the top scoliosis surgeons in the UK) and around 30 pre-adolescent children have had them already.

[Madmax]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/p...e,1049643.html

[LindaRacine]

I'm a bit confused by this:

"Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis is a curving of the spine. The spine curves away from the middle or sideway. If the curvature is severe, bracing and surgery may be necessary. Currently rods and screws are placed on the spine during surgery to slowly restore the spine to a normal position. The repair takes years and involves as many as eight operations to adjust the rods to the desired configuration. This can be a very painful process for the child and in some cases the results are anything but acceptable. Currently there are approximately 33,000 children who undergo the surgery in the US alone."


Surgery for AIS usually involves just one surgery (or two surgeries done within days of each other, if a 2-stage procedure is being performed) and that's it. Repeated procedures are not to be expected. What seems to be being described here sounds more like standard growth rod surgery, which is generally used for children who have infantile or juvenile scoliosis, or in occasional cases of AIS in which the child still has a lot of growth left.

I suspect that whoever wrote the blurb for the website has made a mistake, rather than Dr Harrison being unaware of this. I'd imagine that he has designed these for use in younger children.

Magnetic growth rods have actually already begun to be used in London, at Great Ormond Street Hospital. I am not sure who they are designed/manufactured by.

Whoever wrote the page on the Pediatric Device Consortium has it all confused. He's obviously talking about a procedure for juveniles, but he shows a teen patient who has an anterior implant system (which is obviously not a growing rod).

[Madmax]

Here is a more recent news blurb.

Looks like they have started a clinical study.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195017.php