SPINNER · SPINe: Numerical and Experimental Repair strategies

SPINe: Numerical and Experimental Repair strategies

SPINNER is a doctoral training programme for Bioengineering early stage researchers (ESRs) aiming to train people in multidisciplinary aspects of spine treatments. Back pain is an common problem with more limited solutions than limb joints. Together with other musculoskeletal disorders back pain creates a long term financial burden due to the costs to health services and social care and loss of income; 60% of people on early retirement or long term sick leave state that musculoskeletal problems are the reason. The number of patients requiring complex spine surgery is rapidly expanding, and the biomedical engineering industry needs suitably trained innovators to produce economic solutions to support healthy ageing for the people of Europe. Therefore, the aim of SPINNER was to train bioengineers to be in a position to design the next generation of repair materials and techniques for spine surgery. SPINNER brought together partners from the biomaterials (Finceramica), implantable devices (Aesculap), and computational modelling (Ansys, Adagos, RBFMorph) industries together with orthopaedic clinicians (National Centre for Spinal Disorders, NCSD) and academic experts in cell, tissue and organ scale biomaterials and medical device testing (Universities of Sheffield and Bologna). SPINNER had the objectives: 1) Training of orthopaedic Bioengineers able to integrate in vitro (in the laboratory), ex vivo (outside the body) and in silico (in a computer) data across scales for a holistic approach to spine reconstruction. 2) Development of bioactive, bioresorbable, mechanically competent materials for restoration of the bones of the spine – the vertebrae that could be used in a spinal fusion procedure. 3) Mechanical characterisation of implant materials and reconstructed spines using laboratory and computational modelling techniques. 4) Integrated, user-friendly, computer models of the mechanics of damaged and reconstructed spinal segments that can be used for predictive design, patient specific analysis and surgical navigation. Despite COVID-19, SPINNER was completed on time, all researchers completed their 36 months training and have collected data for a PhD thesis. The researchers attended multidisciplinary training events where specialists in biomaterials, biomechanics and computer modelling described their methodologies. Industry representatives and clinicians were involved throughout and led to real-world examples of spine repair being used for the research. Our key objectives were achieved and SPINNER researchers work will lead to improved surgical techniques using multidisciplinary analysis of the materials and mechanics of the entire system in a holistic way.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз