Spinal implant Essay format and info

<!· What material is spinal implant made of

o  Cement or other material

o  Fiberglass structure

o  Polymerase bases and cement

<!·         <!--[endif]-->What different parts of the spine have artificial counterparts

<!·         <!--[endif]-->Vertebroplasty

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Vertebroplasty is a surgery in which synthetic cement is injected into fractured vertebra. This cement is used to fill up fracture areas so as to relieve pain and to stop the compression of the vertebra due to the loss of coordination with one vertebra.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->However, most results have shown that this durgery has proved inaffective. There are certain compications related with

<!--[if !supportLists]-->§  <!--[endif]-->Examples: rigidity, problems with resolving the compression of the vertebra, inability of the cement to create an effect on the fracture

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->How is this better or worse than complete replacement of the spinal disc?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Is there any proven data showing that this form of surgery is better or worse?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Success rate of spinal  implant

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Dangers of spinal implants, could they cause a disruption in flow of neurons and impulses from brain?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Do spinal implants lead to further damage, referred pain, lapse in the nervous system, and other problems?

Knee joint Injuries and Hip injuries which require replacement

·         Knee joint injuries or disease

o   Serious traumatic damage to knee joint due to breakage or paradoxical motion

o   Arthritic conditions can cause articular cartilage to wear out due to massive usage or wearing out due to impact and immense shock absorbance that slowly wears out the cartilage. Aging usually causes the cartilage to wear out. There is a more serious form of arthritis known as Rheumatoid arthritis that leads to destruction of the cartilage. This can be dangerous and requires immediate knee surgery because once the cartilage wears out the two bones that are connected by the knee start to rub against each other causing great pain and inability to move. The knee basically locks into place because there is no gliding motion of the knee as you see in a regular walk. The walk is basically choppy and stiff if the cartilage is not in place.

·         Hip Joint injuries or diseases

o   Severe arthritis can cause deterioration of hip joint

o   Trochanteric bursitis

§  For those of you that don’t know what a trochanter is, it is a bony prominence on the lower side of the hip joint.  The bursa on the other hand is a jelly like sac that covers the trochanter and protects the trochanter’s hard prominence from rubbing against the skin or the underside of the skin. Over time, this bursa can be irritated or start to wear out. This is what is called bursitis. This is painful and is a sign that there is a need for hip replacement because daily activities even the simplest ones such as sitting down or walking can cause severe pain.

o   Herniated hip disk

o   Hip fracture through traumatic incident (i.e. A major fall, collision impact, etc)

§  Any traumatic incident that causes the hip joint to completely break is difficult to fix, especially at greater ages. The broken hip joint will demobilize a person completely unless there is some form of transport. Sitting down will be impossible if this is the condition, thus, immediate surgical replacement is an utmost necessity.

o   Hip joint socket wears out or is fractured

§  If a hip joint is fractured, then a person is practically unable to walk until the fracture heals. The fracture cannot completely heal because there will be an uneven development in the hip and it will cause a loss of balance.

This is an image of trochanteric bursitis. The inflamed point is shown as pointed to and due to its inflammation, it starts to lose the ability to protect the dermis and layers of soft tissue from the hard edges of the bone

Spinal Trauma and Medical problems that lead to increased necessity for Spinal implants

·         Explain several traumatic events that highlight an increased necessity for implanting a artificial body part (mainly joints). Make sure to split the trauma or diseases between the three main artificial parts mentioned in the introduction

·         Spinal injuries/disease/degenerative processes

o   Disk degeneration

§  Disk Degeneration is a process that involves the deterioration of the spinal disk over the period of one’s life. It is a natural process that occurs to everyone but varies with each person according to intake levels of medicine and calcium and other minerals.

o   Ankylosing Spondylitis:

§  Ankylosing Spondylitis is a type of arthritis specifically related to the spine instead of generalized parts of the body. Spondylitis causes swelling of the spaces between the vertebras which are mainly the disks. This can cause immense back pain, stiffness, inability to release the lock that has formed in the back and further complications.

o   Trauma (serious breakage or displacement)

§  Spinal trauma can be caused by various accidents. Spinal trauma can read to broken disks, disturbance to the disks, displacement of disks, and problems on a more grand scale.

o   Stenosis

§  Stenosis is a condition in which your spine starts to narrow which puts great pressure on nerves and your spinal cord causing immense pain and inability to move. This may require surgical replacement of vertebral disks due to the fact that Stenosis has a chance of occurring due to disk problems.

o   Herniation

§  A Herniation is a condition in which a disk slips out of place and stops supporting the spinal column thus hitting a nerve and leading to pain.

                                            Vertebral disk injury or wear out

                                                                This is a picture of a spine that has undergone serious trauma which has     

caused part of the spine to completely break off from the alignment which is avery serious condition.

This is an image of a herniated disk

This is an image of two spines. However, one has been affected by ankylosing spondylitis which calls for immediate replacement surgery due to inability to move the spine.

Introductory elements to the project

·         Explain that there have been major advances in the field of synthetic / artificial  body parts

o   Advances include the different types of replacements that have been created and which ones have proved most successful. For example, the knee joint replacements have two specific widely used types, but both differ because of the material that they are made up off. Thus, which one is most effective, and why? Point out the usage of each and how they have been shown to produce great results in patients who have had replacement surgeries.

o   Explain the ratio’s o failure to successes, this is important because it helps develop the success of synthetics.

·         The 3 major synthetic parts that are artificial spinal implants, artificial knees, and artificial hip joints.

o   These parts are significantly important because they are the precursors to a person’s ability to perform daily functions whenever needed.  If a person needs these replacement because he or she has been disabled due to problems that affect the organs or body parts that are affected by a traumatic event, they he or she should definitely invest in the replacement program because the person will notice that they will be able to do things beyond their normal capacity and they will be able to function normally once again despite the age.

·         Explain why these parts are needed and how they are in mass production and usage today