Background

Comparison of a normal, healthy spine vs. one with scoliosis.

What is a Spinal Deformity?

A spinal deformity is defined as any abnormal alignment of the spine. Abnormalities can occur in both the coronal (left and right) and sagittal (front and back) planes of the body.

The most common abnormality by far is scoliosis which is a side-to-side misalignment (as seen on the right).

Scoliosis can cause major discomfort in day-to-day life and for some, it may even cause paralysis. For these more severe cases, surgery becomes necessary

Spine Surgery

Operations to re-align the spine can take up to 10-12 hours and much of this time is taken up by repeatedly taking x-ray images to check the changes that have been made and to provide guidance on the next adjustments. However, our team has devised a much quicker and safer solution that can mitigate the use of these x-rays.

First, it is important to know how spine surgery is conducted:

Step 1:

A large incision is made in the patient's back and two pedicle screws are inserted into each vertebra

Step 2:

A metal rod is fed through each screw head, one rod on each side of the spine to begin straightening

Step 3:

Metal scaffolds are attached to the rods in Step 2 and are used as levers to pull the spine into place

Intermediary Steps:

Take multiple x-ray images (20+) to serve as checkpoints

Design Considerations

Our device is designed to not only increase safety and cost-efficiency but also delivers the following:

Ease-of-Use
Biocompatibility
Accuracy
Precision
Durability
Sustainability