Colorado State University
Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering
Biomedical Design Practicum: Capstone Design
Group Members
Joe Clouse, Megan English, Matt Helmreich, Ryan Henry
The current spine phantoms used for testing and demonstrating Medtronic’s StealthStation Navigation System are inadequate due to the inability to achieve both a realistic range of motion of the vertebrae and a repeatable home position. These spine phantoms are used frequently for Research and Development (R&D) purposes as well as a few times a year for demonstration to key physicians to gather market feedback or to potentially sell them the technology. The current limitations result in inaccurate testing and the need to O-arm image the spine phantom each time the spine is used in order to maintain reliable navigation. Additionally, the limited range of motion results in a reduced capacity to recreate physiologically realistic situations as seen in real world applications of this technology. A new spine phantom device is required by Medtronic to help improve both R&D testing and demonstrations. The shortcomings of the current phantoms result in increased difficulty in effectively and efficiently testing as well as difficult or inaccurate demonstrations of the equipment. This can result in frustration for the Medtronic engineer and the physician to whom they are demonstrating. The difficulty completing R&D work and demonstrating the technology costs Medtronic both time and money. The specific customer of this spine phantom are the clinical and R&D departments within Medtronic’s Louisville, Colorado location. The end users of this project are Medtronic engineers who are conducting R&D work and demonstrations of the StealthStation Navigation System. Additional stakeholders of this project include the surgical teams that use Medtronic’s devices as well as patients who are having StealthStation Navigation technology incorporated in their medical procedures.
The necessary requirements for this project in order to have a functioning product are: