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This
is an interesting invention, resulting
from a collaboration between a team
of engineers (structural, mechanical,
metallurgical) of Calicut Regional
Engineering College and a team of
orthopaedic surgeons of Calicut
Medical College.
When
the wrist undergoes a compound fracture
(due to an accidental fall), it
splinters into many fragments, which
do not usually heal to the original
condition. The problem is usually
‘fixed’ by means of
an ‘external fixator’
(made of stainless steel) which
is screwed to either side of the
radius, while applying traction.
The hand is immobilised for a period
of about six weeks, and the fracture
heals naturally. However, invariably,
there is a considerable loss in
mobility of the wrist, as well as
arthritic pain, and sometimes visible
deformity.
The
challenge was to devise an improved
fixator that would permit controlled
mobility of the wrist, so that when
the new bone forms and the fracture
unites, the original flexibility
of the wrist is retained to a large
extent. This was successfully achieved
by the new invention, which allows
movement of one degree of freedom
at a time, while arresting the other
degrees of freedom. A large number
of clinical trials have been successfully
carried out at the medical colleges
at Calicut, Trivandrum and Kottayam.
Please
click
here for a Photo Gallery of
the Dynamic External Wrist Fixator.
Please
click
here for a Press Report on the
Dynamic External Wrist Fixator.
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