Huntington, W.Va.-based Marshall University is evaluating a spinal implant that preserves more motion than traditional lumbar fusion, the Herald-Dispatch reports.
What you should know:
1. Marshall is one of 30 U.S.-based health systems evaluating Premia Spine's TOPS System. The system is a mechanical device that clinicians can use to restore spinal motion.
2. Clinicians can use the TOPS System to treat moderate and severe lumbar spinal stenosis. The device is housed between titanium plates that when implanted allow for a full range of motion.
3. Sixty-six percent of the patients Marshall enrolls will receive the TOPS System. The other patients will receive a traditional lumbar spinal fusion.