A spinal implant promising enhanced patient care won top prize at the University of Akron's LaunchTown Entrepreneurship Awards — a competition of biomedical and engineering business ideas — according to a report in The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The spinal implants are minimal shock set screws that are designed for increased flexibility and indicated for use during spinal fusions, according to team members who developed the implants.
"When a doctor today does a spinal fusion, the torque on the screw in your back has to be exact," said Jason King, a master's student in biomedical education and one of the team members on the winning team, in the report. "Too much or too little torque is bad. Our idea is dynamic stabilization which does not harm the back as much and reduces physical shock to both the patient and the surgeon."
"When a doctor today does a spinal fusion, the torque on the screw in your back has to be exact," said Jason King, a master's student in biomedical education and one of the team members on the winning team, in the report. "Too much or too little torque is bad. Our idea is dynamic stabilization which does not harm the back as much and reduces physical shock to both the patient and the surgeon."