Development and test of an extendable endoprosthesis for bone reconstruction in the leg.
A malignant bone tumour may develop in the femur of a child. In the majority of cases it will be necessary to resect the bone involved, growth plate and adjacent tissues. A modular endoprosthetic system has been developed which can be extended non-invasively to bridge the defect resulting from such a resection. Elongation is achieved by using an external magnetic field. In vitro tests with a prototype showed that the lengthening element met all requirements. Six animal experiments showed that the lengthening element also functioned in vivo.
Verkerke
G J
GJ
Centre for Biomedical Technology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Schraffordt Koops
H
H
Veth
R P
RP
Grootenboer
H J
HJ
De Boer
L J
LJ
Oldhoff
J
J
Postma
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001852:Bone Lengthening / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D006041:Goats; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013977:Tibia / Q000601:surgery*