Surgical Device Design to Study Ankle Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
Approximately one in every 10,000 people sprain their ankle each day. This number increases by at least 5-fold in young athletes and military personnel, with ankle sprain representing the single most common athletic injury. At least half of sprains result in damage to the articular cartilage of the ankle and over 50% of these lead to irreversible joint damage, or osteoarthritis (OA).
A collaborative team including members of the Fortier Lab (College of Veterinary Medicine), the Bonassar Lab (BME/MAE) and Weill Cornell NYC/Hospital for Special Surgery are currently developing a pre-clinical large animal model to study ankle Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). The aim of this study is to better understand the early pathophysiology of OA and to evaluate therapeutic interventions to stop the progression from cartilage trauma to end-stage OA.
Our model involves delivering an intraoperative impact injury to equine articular cartilage using a custom made, spring-loaded impacting device. Immediately following impact injury, we will perform live-cell imaging via an arthroscopically-adapted multiphoton microscope. This will allow us to monitor and characterize changes to the extracellular matrix as well as determine chondrocyte viability.
Students who join the team will be tasked with designing and executing a mounting/holding apparatus that will facilitate the intraoperative use of our impacting and imaging devices. Depending on the students' interest and background, additional opportunities exist, including optimization of in vivo stress/strain data collection and analysis, and creation of a positional recording system for study samples.
This project is well suited for 1-2 students who have a background in mechanical design, including CAD and experience in machining. Familiarity with mechanical testing, Labview and Matlab software is also desirable. Interested students should forward a copy of a resume and unofficial transcript to Prof Bonassar,
Contact: Prof. L.J. Bonassar
Email: lb244@cornell.edu
Phone:5-9381
Office:149 Weill Hall