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Posterior meniscus root suture delivery

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Design an orthopedic tool that allows for the successful repair of the posterior meniscus through the tibial tunnel.

Project Overview

In the last 5 years as of 2019, meniscus root tears have been diagnosed for 10 to 21% of all meniscal tear patients, affecting nearly 100,000 patients each year. The meniscus root is cartilage in the knee joint that helps redistribute shock and pressure induced by daily physical activity, but it can be torn by acute trauma to the knee and degenerative knee disorders, which can further induce chronic osteoarthritis if left untreated. In a medial meniscus root repair surgery, a drill and cannula are used to make a tibial tunnel, which makes a passage through the anterior tibia to the condyle space between the tibia and femur. Normally, a suture passer would be used to place sutures into the meniscus from the medial port, which are then pulled through the tibial tunnel and secured by a button on the anterior face of the tibia. However, this process can damage surrounding cartilage and impair proper joint function. Therefore, the proposed device will instead travel through the tibial tunnel of approximately 6mm in order to repair the tear, meanwhile avoiding cartilage damage and use of a medial port as in the traditional approach. This means that the device will have to articulate within the condyle space to reach the medial meniscus root while also placing secure luggage-tag sutures into the meniscus and the root. The device will improve the surgery greatly by reducing the number of steps during the procedure, restoring better physiological function, and minimizing the amount of cartilage damage.

Team Picture

Team members from left to right: Tanishka Sheth, Joseph Byrne, Izzy Gundrum, Colleen Cuncannan, Ben Bochenski, and Anuraag Belavadi
Team members from left to right: Tanishka Sheth, Joseph Byrne, Izzy Gundrum, Colleen Cuncannan, Ben Bochenski, and Anuraag Belavadi

Contact Information

Team Members

  • Ben Bochenski - Co-Team Leader
  • Colleen Cuncannan - Co-Team Leader
  • Isabelle Gundrum - Communicator
  • Joseph Byrne III - BSAC
  • Anuraag Shreekanth Belavadi - BWIG
  • Tanishka Sheth - BPAG
  • Thanh Nguyen

Advisor and Client

  • Dr. Sarah Gong - Advisor
  • Dr. Brian Walczak - Client

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