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Expandable bone graft

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Design Award

  • Design Excellence Award Honorable Mention

Project Overview

In some cases in spine surgery it is necessary to perform a bone fusion in the intervertebral space. This is done by removing the intervertebral disc and then placing bone graft. Traditional bone grafts are rectangular or cresent shaped. The graft is placed through a small surgical corridor. The graft needs to be large enough to support the vertebral bodies but not so large that it injures the surrounding nerves. It would be easier and safer to develop an expandable bone graft that could be inserted in a collapsed form and then expanded to fill the disk interspace. The goal of this project would be to develop an expanding interbody bone graft. This should be made out of a biomaterial that would allow bone fusion to occur but also would be strong enough to support the biomechanical forces of the spine as healing occurs.

Team Picture

Team members from left to right: Trenton Roeber, Annamarie Ciancio, Kristen Driscoll, Brian Yasosky
Team members from left to right: Trenton Roeber, Annamarie Ciancio, Kristen Driscoll, Brian Yasosky

Contact Information

Team Members

  • Trenton Roeber - Team Leader
  • Annamarie Ciancio - Communicator & BPAG
  • Kristen Driscoll - BSAC
  • Brian Yasosky - BWIG

Advisor and Client

  • Dr. Ed Bersu - Advisor
  • Dr. Nathaniel Brooks - Client

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