What if surgical instruments worked more in synch with the natural mechanics of the body, rather than against it? That's the goal behind Physcient, a medical technology company founded by 2 entrepreneurs who got their start in biomechanics and are looking to apply those principles to the surgical toolbox.
"The entire surgical tray is going to be transformed," says Physcient co-founder Charles Pell in a recent New York Times profile of the company.
In a renovated tobacco warehouse in Durham, N.C., Mr. Pell and his partner, Hugh Crenshaw, PhD, are starting with the rib spreader, a device invented in 1936 that, while effective in opening patients' chests for heart surgery, is associated with a range of serious side effects including broken ribs, crushed nerves and lasting post-surgical pain.
Mr. Pell and Dr. Crenshaw have set out to design a "kindler, gentler rib spreader," according to the Times report, using principles from biomechanics — the study of how living creatures and their body parts move. With assistance from researchers at North Carolina State University, who developed technology that can sense the level of force generated by rib spreaders, the Physcient team have built a new, motor-powered rib spreader with 2 rows of curved metal hooks that works with the physics of bone and other tissues in the chest.
In describing how their prototype works, the entrepreneurs use the analogy of a stick from a tree: Just as you can bend a stick rather than break it if you apply the right amount of force at the right speed, you can also open the rib cage without breaking bones if you take the right approach. Tests on live pigs have shown the Physcient rib spreader prototype to successfully open pigs' chests without cracking ribs, while a conventional spreader cracked ribs in 4 out of 5 pigs tested. The pigs in the Physcient group also needed fewer painkillers and less time to recover.
The inventors hope to bring their new rib spreader to market in late 2012, after which they'll turn their attention to other surgical tools that can be hard on patients' bodies.
Which items in the surgical toolbox would you like to see them tackle next?
Irene Tsikitas
