San Diego-based DJO Global’s surgical business unit signed a deal in July with the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, to develop an alternative to traditional socket technology, a percutaneous osseointegrated prosthesis (POP) for above the knee amputees.
The POP involves a femoral implant that protrudes through the skin and attaches to a prosthetic limb. Previous POP development efforts have been hindered by problems with infection at the skin-implant interface.
Utah researchers have developed a POP that utilizes DJO Surgical’s new proprietary titanium porous coating, which provides a soft tissue seal around the device to prevent bacteria from entering the body. Animal studies of the device found no evidence of infection one year after implant.
The research team is led by Roy Bloebaum, PhD, codirector of the VA Bone and Joint Research Lab at the Department of Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System and research professor of orthopedics, biology, and bioengineering at University of Utah.
The team has begun work on the human implant and expects to start clinical trials in the next two years.
The US Department of Defense provided grant funding for the research and initial trials are expected to be conducted at VA hospitals.
