Unmet Need: The current designs of weightbearing orthopaedic implants are limited due to the variabilities in the material and structural properties of the bones in which they are implanted. In addition, many orthopaedic conditions -- and the implantation of foreign materials into the body -- are associated with significant risk of complications including infection, pain, and impaired healing, among others.
For many of these complications and conditions, multiple-staged operative procedures are necessary for adequate treatment. For others, systemic administration of therapeutic agents (such as antibiotics or pain killers) may be indicated as part of the post-operative management plan. Some of these systemic agents are limited by off-target effects and systemic toxicity. As a result, treatment of many challenging surgical cases including arthroplasty, arthroplasty revision, spinal fusion, and traumatic injury are associated with significant patient morbidity and high financial cost. Currently no commercial solution exists to appropriately address these challenges within orthopaedic surgical care.
Solution: Using advances in structural engineering and manufacturing methodology, researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed novel design strategies to more optimally tailor implants to suit the mechanical properties of each individual patient. In addition, the improved design parameters enable this technology to have controlled release of therapeutic agents through passive and/or active methods acting directly at the surgical site. This enables local administration of medical substances, targeted precisely to the site of need, and therefore minimizing the off-target effects and systemic toxicity. Perhaps more importantly, the combination of this custom or semi-custom hardware and localized therapeutic administration provides the improved opportunity to definitively treat some complex clinical conditions with a single surgical procedure rather than a multiple-staged approach. Furthermore, for patients that have already received such an implant in the past and develop a late complication, it provides the possibility to treat many challenging orthopaedic conditions non-operatively. This approach represents a profound paradigm shift in the management of many difficult clinical scenarios, and an opportunity to reduce both morbidity and financial burden. This technology serves as a powerful solution that may be applied to both routine surgical procedures, as well as address many of the most complex orthopaedic conditions.
Stage of DevelopmentA prototype has been created and is in the testing phase.
