Avi Kumar, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with Bradenton, Fla.-based Coastal Orthopedics Sports Medicine & Pain Management, obtained a U.S. patent for an anatomic humeral fracture plate.
Here are six things to know:
1. The Gaudi plate is an implanted medical device that aims to provide providers enhanced fixations for various shoulder fracture patterns. The device contains specialized screws matted to the plate to facilitate callous healing.
2. Providers can use to plate to set the shoulder tuberosities into its normal position and internally fix the fracture.
3. Equipped with cutouts for suture needles, the device allows orthopedic surgeons to pass through the plate after they applied it to the patient's bone.
4. With more than 15 years of shoulder and elbow experience, Dr. Kumar says these shoulder fractures prove particularly challenging to treat because shoulder muscles often shift or move the bone fragment from their correct position. He said he created the device to give surgeons more options to stabilize and maintain the fracture following surgery.
5. Dr. Kumar intends to hire a manufacturing company to test the prototypes in a FDA-approved lab over the next few months. Once the lab provides Dr. Kumar with results, he will file an application with the FDA to market the advice.
6. Seventeen orthopedic surgeons and pain management physicians practice out of Coastal Orthopedics.