Chapter 1925： 【1925】Artificial Materials

Chapter 1925 [1925] Artificial Materials

Things that can replace human bones must be as hard as bones, so metal materials are more common in orthopedics.

If these pieces didn't appear in the surgeon's box, at first glance they would have thought they were machine parts.

The   cylindrical shape looks like the screen is closed. This thing is called a titanium cage, a kind of orthopedic material.

Just by looking at this structure, you can see that it should be a simple equipment, and it is true. It is the least complex supporting material in the fixed fusion artificial vertebral body. Since it does not have a height-adjusting device, it cannot be adjusted during surgery, and the stability relies on the cones at both ends of the head and tail. The surgeon can only add titanium plates or nails to it to help fix it.

Medical materials are constantly developing. In view of the defect that the height of the titanium cage cannot be adjusted, another artificial vertebral body that can be adjusted in height will definitely be invented. It is called an adjustable and fixed artificial vertebral body.

This kind of artificial vertebral body is like the one that Xie Wanying is holding in the hands of her predecessors. The structure is actually not complicated. A cone composed of an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder, plus an adjustment screw. If the surgeon wants to increase the height during the operation, the inner cylinder should be pulled up and then fixed, and if it wants to be lowered, the inner cylinder should be pressed down and then fixed. The adjustment can be adjusted, but the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder are only fixed by screws. Think about it and know that the stability is not reliable. Therefore, the surgeon must also add a rod system to it to assist in the fixation.

How to enhance the self-stability of the artificial vertebral body, medical scientists have reinvented the following so called self-fixating artificial vertebral body. This artificial vertebral body does not need to add titanium plate and screw rod system, and relies on its own front and rear ends to directly add screw pieces to the adjacent vertebral bodies.

The above three are all fusion artificial vertebral bodies. They develop step by step and try to overcome the previous defects, but eventually there will be relative surgical sequelae due to the loss of mobility.

It is mentioned here that when the vertebral body is removed during surgery, the cartilage tissue between the vertebral bodies, that is, the intervertebral disc, must be removed at the same time. Only in this way can the artificial vertebral body be fixed between the front and rear vertebral bodies. After the intervertebral disc is removed, it is conceivable that it will affect the physiological function of this part of the spine. Therefore, the fused artificial vertebral body cannot be bent because it is fixed and cannot replace the intervertebral disc. In this case, the active pressure of the spinal column can only be transmitted to the adjacent vertebral body, and poor adjustment may eventually lead to the degeneration of the intervertebral disc of the adjacent vertebral body. If the patient is an elderly person, the atrophy of the intervertebral disc is not very good, and the follow-up will be more serious.

understood this defect, and a movable artificial vertebral body was invented. The purpose of the movement is to match the artificial vertebral body that replaces the function of the intervertebral disc. It's just that these movable artificial vertebral bodies are not mature and are still in the exploratory stage. The ideal is very beautiful. It is very difficult to be exactly the same as the original organs and tissues of the human body and be very obedient, equivalent to the creator. The latest products upgraded in this way are definitely more expensive than the old ones. In order to save money, the fixed artificial vertebral body plus screw rod system is more common in clinical practice.

After reading these things, people in other departments are indeed reviewing the knowledge of orthopedics. One by one, they looked at Chang Jiawei while thinking. Can this artificial vertebral body be placed in the most suitable position to adjust the most suitable height?

(end of this chapter)