Team 17

CMC Implant: A Phalangeal Joint Spacer for Osteomyelitis

Team Members: Jeremy Atkinson
Cesar Carreto
Priscilla Han
Vishnu Karthigeyan

Team Mentors: Brent Vernon, PhD - SBHSE
George Mastorakos - Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (M4)

YouTube Link: View the video link below before joining the zoom meeting

Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/82739899813

Abstract

Complicated bone infections like osteomyelitis affect up to 200,000 people in the U.S. every year, and they specifically affect the bones in the hand digits for 50,000 people every year. Currently, physicians who treat patients with osteomyelitis in their hand use a two-stage surgical process and a temporary antibiotic joint spacer to remove the infections, but often an amputation of the hand digit is needed to sufficiently address the issue. Many of the current solutions are not reliable or predictable, and they cost a large amount of money and resources for providers and patients alike. Joined Efforts is creating a permanent joint spacer that can be inserted into the hand digit in a single surgery. The joint spacer is made of three primary components: bone cement in the outer shell to provide structural support to the hand digit, stainless steel in the inner shell to provide added support as well as radiopacity, and a PEG hydrogel in the innermost portion of the spacer that elutes antibiotics over a six week period. By separating the components of the spacer to designated functions, each material will efficiently achieve its own purpose and increase the overall lifetime of the device. The spacer will provide clinical value by efficiently removing infections while avoiding amputations, and it will provide cost value by allowing surgeons to shift from two-phase surgeries or repeated procedures to a single-phase, faster surgery that requires less in- house resources.