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Autogenous cancellous bone is currently the "gold standard" for bone graft material and is used in more than 500,000 procedures per year in the United States. However, current methods of harvesting cancellous bone are associated with significant morbidity from surgical scars, blood loss, pain, prolonged surgical time and rehabilitation, exposure to blood products, and infection risk.
Foster-Miller is developing an orthopedic instrument capable of collecting large quantities of cancellous bone using a novel flexible boring tool that is inserted through a single standard 1.2 cm minimally invasive skin incision. The tool will follow the internal contour of iliac crest cortex and will extract core samples of cancellous bone and bone marrow (up to 10 cc per sample). Risk of damage or perforation of the ilium cortex bone will be minimized. This approach minimizes the amount of patient morbidity and expands the use of autograft harvesting. The system will be disposable, and designed for low cost manufacture. The use for this tool could be expanded to include harvesting of bone.
The device is being developed in collaboration with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
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