A Carleton University professor is working on a new solution to treat bone fractures that could have major implications for hospitals and clinics in Ottawa and beyond.
Hanspeter Frei, a medical engineer, has created a tiny anchor inserted in the bone to better hold a screw in place - lessening the odds of displacement and other complications in low-density, older bones.
The only technique for anchoring screws being used now is cement augmentation, Frei said.
"It's the spinal cord coming through and you have nerve roots, and you inject cement in there," he told CTV Ottawa. "It gets up to 70 degrees. That's really dangerous."
Frei has been awarded a $112.000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council to continue his work.
Ingenuity is a welcome sight for Dr. Paul Beaule, a bone surgeon seeing more cases of osteoporosis as the local population ages.
"There's a multitude of variables for why these screws fail," he said. "The quality of the bone, how the screws were put in, the construct, so every time we can minimize one aspect of the failure of the mechanism, the better it is."
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Maggie Padlewska
