Magnetic targeting device to eliminate the need for the x-ray machines that locate the screw holes in bone repair procedures
In a joint venture with Plastics One, Triad Semiconductor, Virginia Tech and Carilion Biomedical Institute have created a device that could change how doctors perform medical procedures for broken bones.
The medical procedure to repair broken thigh bones is long and tedious.
First doctors thread a metal pin through the segments of the fractured bone, typically starting at the hip bone sliding the pin down the leg.
The doctors then drill screw holes - but there's a catch.
The screw holes must line up with the pre-drilled screw holes in the metal pin already inserted in the leg.
Both sets of screw holes must line up with one another precisely; it's this part of the procedure that takes the longest and the reason the new device was created. Doctors use large x-ray machines and a hand held drill for this stage of the surgery.
It is very tedious and exposes the patient and the doctor to large doses of radiation from the x-ray machines during the course of the procedure.
The doctor takes x-rays of the leg and the pin to determine the exact location of the pin holes.
This, as you can imagine, can take a lot of time to line up a hand held drill with the pre-drilled screw holes using only a live x-ray as a guide.
The magnetic targeting device is a hand held device that locates the screw holes and will eliminate the need for the x-ray machines.
Teaming up with companies such as Triad Semiconductor, Virginia Tech and Plastics One, this breakthrough in technology was created.
Each company contributed their strengths to the design of the apparatus.
The device is still in the prototype stage.
