January 2019
Wireless electric stimulation enhances neuroregeneration
Researchers have developed the first example of a bioelectronic medicine: an implantable, biodegradable wireless device that speeds nerve regeneration and improves healing of a damaged nerve. Their device delivered pulses of electricity to damaged nerves in rats after a surgical repair process, accelerating the regrowth of nerves and enhancing the recovery of muscle strength and control. The device is the size of a dime and the thickness of a sheet of paper.
Read about it here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-018-0196-2
Randomized Trial of Endoscopic or Open Vein-Graft Harvesting for Coronary-Artery Bypass
1. Among patients randomized to an open or endoscopic vein-graft harvest technique for coronary-artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, there was no difference in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) over a median follow-up of 2.78 years.
2. The rate of leg wound complications was lower in the endoscopic-harvest group compared to the open-harvest group.
Read about it more here: https://www-nejm-org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1812390?query=featured_home
How Magnets Make Surgery Less Painful
Surgery is often painful and expensive, but Levita Magnetics is changing all of that. Its high-tech magnets that allow cheaper, less painful surgeries with fewer incisions in the body.
Read about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjt8TfE2Z20&t=51s
November 2018
World's First Head Transplant
Meet Valeri Spiridonov who has a rare genetic condition called Werdnig-Hoffman disease - a form of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA1). Spiridonov will be undergoing the world’s first head transplant surgery which promises a cure for untreatable neurological or muscle-wasting diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy. Dr. Sergio Canavero (Italy) plans to perform the procedure alongside a team of Chinese surgeons, led by Dr. Xiaoping Ren (China).
Read about their plans here: http://surgicalneurologyint.com/surgicalint-articles/heaven-the-head-anastomosis-venture-project-outline-for-the-first-human-head-transplantation-with-spinal-linkage-gemini/
'Piggyback' Heart Transplant
Ever heard about the ‘piggyback’ heart transplant, otherwise known as heterotrophic heart transplant?
Read about it here: https://academic.oup.com/ejcts/article/44/2/201/441445
Rotationplasty: Turning an ankle into a knee
During the procedure, the femur, the knee, and the upper tibia are surgically removed and the lower part of the leg is then rotated 180 degrees and attached to the thigh.
Read about it here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4234076/