Soft Implants for Soft Bones
Lifespans develops proprietary approaches to making implants safer and more effective when repairing broken bones in elderly patients.
Our first device, the Lifespans Soft Hip implant, features a biocompatible polymer cushion — the Fang-Kulper Tip — that spreads stress across bone tissue, reducing the risk of painful implant migration and failure after surgery.
Lifespans Soft Implants significantly reduce stress concentration in the vicinity of the implant tip. Advantages over existing anti-cutout methods include elimination of cement augmentation risks, shortened surgical time, and reduced severity of complications due to operator error.
This technology can be applied at minimal cost to commonly-used trauma and spine implants for patients with soft bone, improving biomechanical stability while reducing post-surgical complication rates. Preclinical tests showed 95% less migration in femoral neck fixation (p<0.01) using humeral/femoral locking screws, dynamic hip screws, and hip nails. Implants using Lifespans technology can also be “tuned” to suit the mechanical properties of an individual patient’s bone density for superior performance.
The Lifespans Soft Implant Product Portfolio
We are actively developing a portfolio of products based on Lifespans Soft Implant Technology: the Lifespans Soft Hip, Soft Shoulder, and Soft Spine. Our first implant, the Lifespans Soft Hip, is presently undergoing FDA/CA review as a 510(k) / Class II device, with the goal of reaching market by Q4 2018. Information related to our additional pending implants is available upon request. Contact Lifespans
Our Research Advantage
Levering our deep ties to Asia's #1 medical school - the University of Hong Kong - Lifespans specializes in conducting basic research into the mechanical changes to bone that come with advancing age, and translating these insights into new implants that are safer and more effective at treating fractures in soft bone. Aside from our Lifespans Soft Implant technologies, our ongoing cutting-edge research has also resulted in several papers related to Lifespans Soft Implant Technology, published in world-leading journals in biomedical engineering:
- Kulper, S. A., Fang, C. X., Ren, X., Guo, M., Sze, K. Y., Leung, F. K., & Lu, W. W. (2017). Development and initial validation of a novel smoothed‐particle hydrodynamics‐based simulation model of trabecular bone penetration by metallic implants. Journal of Orthopaedic Research.
Kulper, S. A., Sze, K. Y., Fang, C. X., Ren, X., Guo, M., Schneider, K., ... & Ngan, A. (2018). A novel fracture mechanics model explaining the axial penetration of bone-like porous, compressible solids by various orthopaedic implant tips. Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials, 80, 128-136.