Student Researchers Test the Thermal Damage Factors of a New Surgical Technique

Undergraduates Rebecca Brownlee and Peter Mack are part of the Notre Dame research team working with Zimmer, Inc., to develop minimally invasive surgical techniques. In their most recent studies, Brownlee and Mack used a cadaver model to test the temperature distribution of a new implant throughout the bone cement curing process.

Temperature readings were taken at the cement-implant interface, the center of the cement mass, the cortical wall-cement interface, and the inside of the cortical wall. Ambient and cement control temperatures were also recorded. Initial data suggests that although some damage, thermal necrosis, was experienced, it remained near the cement-implant interface and did not continue into the cortical wall.

For more information on minimally invasive surgical techniques being developed by the Notre Dame team, visit http://www.nd.edu/~amebio/.