NEMIC in the News- There's a new implant developed in Rhode Island to treat spine fractures

by BARBARA MORSE, NBC 10 NEWS 

Wednesday, February 23rd 2022

There's a new -- first and only-one-of-its kind -- implant to treat spine fractures.

This idea was hatched in Rhode Island, through a collaborative that encourages the creation of new medical technology. It's called the New England Medical Innovation Center in Providence.

It was there that a man with both a mechanical engineering and a business degree came up with what could revolutionize the way spine fractures are repaired.

"The very first one was done in 2019 and that one actually was in Oklahoma," said Dom Messerli, founder of Lenoss Medical, and the developer of this new device. "It's the first and only biological solution to treat those spinal fractures."

Biological because it is made from human bone tissue.

"Out of that piece of human tissue, you fabricate this shape out of it," explained Messerli, referring to its pearl like shape.

So, it's no surprise he calls them Osteo-Pearls. Out of the package, the string of pearls is hard.

"When you rehydrate it, you then get this effect and now it becomes completely flexible," said Messerli, who dipped the implants in a saline solution.

Using special instrumentation, also developed locally, these Osteo-Pearls are implanted into the fractured vertebrae.

"Over time, like over two years, it will become natural bone again. So, it'll be completely cohesive with everything else there," said Messerli.

"I said, 'Wow, this would solve a lot of our safety issues'," said Dr. John Lane, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

He said typically they repair these fractures with cement but, that cement can travel.

"Four percent of people who get this procedure have cement in the lung and there are isolated cases where you see cement in the heart," said Lane. "The advantage of a biological solution, which is offered by this new company, which is intriguing, is that you put bone in there and you don't put anything else in there."

Lane recently used this new implant on one of his patients -- a woman in her 70s with good results.

He said time will tell which patients would benefit most from this implant, but his guess is that would include younger patients whose pain isn't acute, and who want to maintain the integrity of the spine. He said he plans to use again.