An innovative new spinal fusion device that is simpler and cheaper than existing technology and avoids the need for more invasive surgery and bone grafts will enter human trials next year, UNSW Australia researchers say.
UNSW researchers and surgeons anticipate the innovative Thru-Fuze™ medical device will transform spinal fusion surgery, which is used when conservative therapies such as physical therapy, medication and injections have failed.
“These systems are very costly, difficult and time consuming to implant and they also have relatively variable rates of fusion success.”
“Existing methods rely on the bone to make its way right across the vertebrae and it can take up to a year to find out if the surgery has been a success.
“Over time, the device then acts as a bridge between the adjacent vertebrae for additional bone to grow across, fusing the adjacent vertebrae together, bone to bone,” Professor Walsh said.
The new NSW Government funding comes on top of $2.3 million that has already been invested in the development of the device by private equity company, Intellectual Ventures. This funding allowed the UNSW team to engage global industrial experts, including Dr Andy Carter and Orchid Design USA, in the research and development phase of the product.
Intellectual Ventures has exclusively licensed the device from UNSW as part of a five-year ongoing partnership with UNSW Innovations to source inventions to commercialise.
Device co-inventor Dr Matthew Pelletier, from UNSW’s Prince of Wales Clinical School, said the team had so far successfully navigated the “valley of death” between the creation of the medical device and its commercialisation. Patents for the technology have also been filed in Australia, Europe, China and the United States.
Neurosurgeon and Conjoint Lecturer with UNSW’s Prince of Wales Clinical School, Dr Ralph Mobbs, who will lead the human trials, says the potential of the device is significant.
“New technologies such as the Thru-Fuze™ are of paramount importance, as surgeons strive to deliver better patient outcomes with less invasive and more effective implant and prostheses options.”
The Thru-Fuze™ device was one of seven medical devices to receive funding from NSW Health’s Medical Device Fund, announced by the NSW Minister of Health, Jillian Skinner.