Bone-anchored prostheses for amputees are a pioneering method of treatment that significantly improves the quality of life for an important group of younger disabled individuals. The Gothenburg-based company Integrum recently presented this fantastic technique in the USA.
Osseointegration is a method for anchoring a prosthesis directly to the bone whereby a titanium implant is surgically inserted into the amputated bone stump. The objective is to encourage the body's living bone tissue to integrate with the implant so that it becomes firmly fused. The implant is then ready for connection to a spacer which is in turn attached to a prosthesis.
Technique presented in the USA
Over the past 50 years major advances have been made in the science of osseointegration and findings have led to the OPRA implant system — Osseointegrated Prosthetics for the Rehabilitation of Amputees — recently presented by the Gothenburg-based company Integrum to OSOS (Orthopaedic Surgical Osseointegration Society) at a conference in San Francisco, USA February 9 — 12. It was the first time the company demonstrated the technique in the USA.
OPRA improves function and quality of life
“The treatment leads to improved function and quality of life in 9 out of 10 patients," says Rickard Brånemark, MD at the Orthopedic Clinic at the University of Gothenburg´s Sahlgrenska Academy. “Direct attachment to the bone by means of implants was an unattainable vision for a very long while. Development has been going on for more than 20 years, and now the international breakthrough for this revolutionary treatment is finally here."
Osseointegration — a Swedish invention
Osseointegration is a method for anchoring a prosthesis directly to the bone. The Swedish Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark developed it in the 1960s, when he discovered that titanium is not rejected by the body but instead fuses with the surrounding bone tissue. The discovery was initially used for the prosthetic replacement of teeth, but it has since been further developed. Today, osseointegration is also used for leg, arm and facial prosthetics, as well as for bone-anchored hearing aids.
INTEGRUM markets and sells the OPRA (Osseointegrated Prosthetics for the Rehabilitation of Amputees) implant system.
More information:
About Integrum:
http://www.integrum.se/content/view/6/7/
About osseointegration:
http://www.sahlgrenskaic.com/osseointegration/osseointegration
About the Orthopaedic Surgical Osseointegration Society (OSOS) conference 2012 in San Fransisco:
http://www.ososonline.org/
Media links at Integrum´s website:
http://www.integrum.se/content/view/4/6/
Press contact:
Josefine Ekman Colliander
Integrum AB, Sweden.
Phone: +46 31 760 1060
josefin.colliander@integrum.se
2012-02-13 14:40 Bone anchored prostheses are attached directly to the bone and do not have any contact with the skin. Many of the prosthesis related problems are eliminated and the functional ability of the patient is improved. The technique is called OPRA implant system — Osseointegrated Prosthetics for the Rehabilitation of Amputees, from the company Integrum, Gothenburg, Sweden.
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