Orthopedic News and Research

RSS

Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (also spelled orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and non-surgical means to treat musculoskeletal trauma, sports injuries, degenerative diseases, infections, tumors, and congenital conditions.

Brainlab enters into definitive agreement to acquire Voyant Health

Brainlab announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Voyant Health.

7 Jun 2011

Merge Healthcare, Ophthalmic Imaging Systems enter definitive merger agreement

Merge Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, and Ophthalmic Imaging Systems, a leading provider of digital imaging and informatics solutions for ophthalmology and other medical specialties, today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Merge Healthcare will acquire OIS.

6 Jun 2011

FDA clears ArthroCare's Spartan 6.5 Needled Anchor

ArthroCare® Corp., a leader in developing state-of-the-art, minimally invasive surgical products, announced today that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Spartan™ 6.5 Needled Anchor (Spartan). The Spartan device is a preloaded threaded anchor indicated for use in fixation of soft tissue to bone, such as during a rotator cuff repair.

6 Jun 2011

HealthTrust, Pioneer Surgical sign new spine implant agreement

HealthTrust Purchasing Group, L.P., has awarded Pioneer Surgical Technology, Inc. a spine implant agreement, beginning June 1, 2011.

4 Jun 2011

NIH approves BioTime's two human embryonic stem cell lines for clinical use

BioTime, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced that two human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines, ESI-014 and ESI-017, developed by a BioTime subsidiary have been approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for inclusion in the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry.

4 Jun 2011

Stevens Institute of Technology to host conference on bacteria-material interactions

On June 9-10, Stevens Institute of Technology will host the Stevens Conference on Bacteria-Material Interactions, an event that covers the latest multi-disciplinary research in the area of infection-resistant biomaterials.

3 Jun 2011

Nighttime heart and lung transplants do not affect patient survival

Despite concerns that surgeon fatigue is leading to dangerous complications for patients and data showing worse outcomes for many patients who undergo surgery at night, new Johns Hopkins research suggests that — in the case of heart and lung transplants — time of day has no affect on patient survival.

1 Jun 2011

Surgeons minimize amputation rate among patients injured in Haitian earthquake

A team of plastic and orthopedic surgeons achieved a high success rate in limb salvage—minimizing the need for amputations—among patients injured in last year's devastating earthquake in Haiti, reports a study in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

1 Jun 2011

HHS uses new devices to meet growing need of joint replacements among baby boomers

"The number of patients in their 50s coming into my office asking for joint replacement is higher than ever," says Dr. Steven B. Haas, a knee surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

30 May 2011

UCSD students study what happens when blood floods headward in microgravity

In space, the old movie slogan declares, "no one can hear you scream." On the other hand, you might look like it, with puffy face, swollen eyes and distended neck veins. This is what happens when, screaming or not, bodily fluids shift in the absence of gravity.

25 May 2011

PolyPid announces new drug delivery system and an innovative biodegradable bone void filler

PolyPid, a developer of innovative drug carriers, announced today the company’s flagship platform – PolyPid. PolyPid is a new, innovative family of drug carriers, based on a fusion between two known drug delivery systems: polymers and lipid-based systems. The new drug carriers enable long-lasting and controlled release of therapeutic drugs. The revolutionary, patented carrier can be tailored to almost any drug – small molecules, peptides, protein and nucleic acids-based drugs. The formulations can be pre-planned in order to achieve the desired release rate of the drug/s and the optimal duration, which can last up to several months.

23 May 2011

Tumor necrosis factor can suppress inflammation, treat rheumatoid arthritis

A new study by rheumatologists at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York has shown that a powerful pro-inflammatory protein, tumor necrosis factor, can also suppress aspects of inflammation.

23 May 2011

New insights into bone diseases

A study by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and collaborators at other institutions has provided new insights into the means by which bone cells produce new bone in response to mechanical stresses, such as exercise.

23 May 2011

High heels and narrow toe boxes lead to toe deformities in women

According to a recent study, 39 percent of women say they wear high heels every day, and 75 percent of those women say they experience regular shoe-related foot pain and suffer from bunions, arthritic big toes, calluses, hammer toes, and plantar warts.

21 May 2011

HSS researchers develop new tool to compare efficacy of different brachial plexus surgical treatments

The way that clinicians report outcomes of surgery for a traumatic nerve injury involving the arm is not standardized, and it is thus difficult to compare the efficacy of different surgical treatments, according to a study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York.

20 May 2011

Tornier announces launch of Porous Coated Affiniti Stem for shoulder joint replacement surgery

Tornier Inc. the operating subsidiary of Tornier N.V., a leading global medical device company focused on serving extremities specialists who treat orthopedic conditions of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, ankle and foot, today announced the introduction of the Porous Coated Affiniti Stem for shoulder joint replacement surgery.

20 May 2011

Health law faces legal challenges and political battles

Senate Republicans target the law's Independent Payment Advisory Board and issue a top-10 list of its biggest problems. Meanwhile, CQ HealthBeat reports on the merits of the "imminent injury" argument that is in play in at least one legal challenge to the law.

19 May 2011

TissueGene commences enrollment in TG-C Phase II trial for severe knee osteoarthritis

TissueGene, Inc. announced today that it has initiated patient enrollment for a U.S. Phase II clinical trial of its lead product candidate TG-C. TG-C involves human allogeneic chondrocytes developed to produce the therapeutic protein TGF-beta1 for the regeneration of cartilage in patients suffering from severe osteoarthritis of the knee.

19 May 2011

Improved tissue grafts promote vascular growth in wound sites

Victims of third-degree burns and other traumatic injuries endure pain, disfigurement, invasive surgeries and a long time waiting for skin to grow back. Improved tissue grafts designed by Cornell scientists that promote vascular growth could hasten healing, encourage healthy skin to invade the wounded area and reduce the need for surgeries.

18 May 2011

Treatment of chronic low back pain can reverse abnormal brain activity and function

It likely comes as no surprise that low back pain is the most common form of chronic pain among adults. Lesser known is the fact that those withchronic pain also experience cognitive impairments and reduced gray matter in parts of the brain associated with pain processing and the emotional components of pain, like depression and anxiety.

18 May 2011