Principal Investigator: Gary S. Beaupré, PhD Project Staff: Derek P. Lindsey, MS and Scott A. Yerby, PhD Project Category: Spinal Cord Injury - 2004 Spinal stenosis is a debilitating disorder, which, in severe cases, compresses the spinal cord, causes pain and retards physical function. A novel spinal implant to provide distraction of the spinous processes and increase the area of the spinal canal is being tested. The intent is to decompress the affected stenotic levels of the spinal column and in turn relieve pain. Twenty implants will be assembled and placed in a materials testing frame. One of three loads will be applied to the implant at the rate of 5 mm/min. The loading vectors will include an axial load, and two shear loads perpendicular to the axis of the implant. The load and displacement will be recorded at 20 Hz. Eight cadaver lumbar specimens (L2-L5) have been obtained. The specimens were loaded onto a hydraulic materials testing machine. Lateral and superior stress profilometry was performed in each disc (L2-L5) with the specimen under compression in a neutral position, flexion, and extension. Flexion and extension were achieved by applying a 7.5 N-m bending moment. The implant was placed between the L3-L4 spinous processes and stress profilometry repeated. Milestones and Publications: Swanson K, Lindsey D, Zucherman J, Hsu, K, Yerby S: The Effect of an Interspinous Process Spacer on the Interdiscal Pressure. Submitted to the Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumabr Spine, Cleveland, OH, May 14-18, 2002. Talwar V, Lindsey D, Zucherman J, Hsu K, Yerby S: Lateral Loads During Insertion of a Novel Interspinous Process Spacer. Submitted to the Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumabr Spine, Cleveland, OH, May 14-18, 2002. Yerby S, Lindsey D, Swanso, K, Hsu K, Zucherma, J: The Influence of an Interspinous Process Spacer on the Flexion-Extension Kinematics of the Lumbar Spine. Submitted to the Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumabr Spine, Cleveland, OH, May 14-18, 2002. Kreshak JL, Kim DH, Lindsey DP, Kam AC, Panjabi MM, Yerby SA: Posterior stabilization at the cervicothoracic junction: a biomechanical study. Spine, 27(24):2763-2770, 2002. Richards J, Majumdar S, Lindsey D, Beaupré G, Yerby S: Quantitative Changes in the Lumbar Spinal Canal With an Interspinous Implant. 9th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques, Montreux, Switzerland, May 23-25, 2002. Richards JC, Majumdar S, Lindsey DP, Beaupré GS, Yerby SA: The treatment mechanism of an interspinous process implant for lumbar neurogenic intermittent claudication. Accepted to Spine. Funding Source: St. Francis Medical Technologies Funding Status: Active |
