The University of Leeds is heading a £1.1 million project that will lead to groundbreaking new treatments for chronic back disorders, by developing advanced computer models of the spine.
While it is now commonplace for hospitals to perform hip and knee joint surgery with a high rate of success, spinal surgery for conditions such as degenerative disc disease is still in its infancy.
“It might seem far-fetched, but with the aid of computer modelling, we hope that minimally invasive surgery for back pain will become a reality by 2020,” said Dr Ruth Wilcox (School of Mechanical Engineering), who is leading the research. This could mean injecting nucleus gels to restore the shape of spinal discs, for example, or repairing fractures with bioactive bone cements.
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