This amounts to roughly 500,000 compression fractures each year and exceeds the number of hip fractures. Until the introduction of a new technique to treat painful vertebral body compression fractures, there had been few treatment options. Vertebroplasty is a technique whereby bone cement is injected into the vertebral body via a percutaneously placed canula. This procedure is believed to mechanically stabilize the fractured vertebral body and thereby relieve pain. The biomechanics laboratory collaborates extensively with faculty from the University Sports Medicine, doctors to the Baltimore Ravens and multiple Maryland collegiate and high school teams.
Research focuses on the repair of various soft tissue injuries.
In collaboration with the faculty at R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center , the nations premiere trauma center, we investigate various issues related to the mechanics of fracture fixation and reconstruction. We also interact with the national study center, which investigates real world car collisions to gain insight into the mechanism of injury and to evaluate the efficacy of engineering interventions such as air bags. We have also contributed a chapter on mechanisms of injury to the AAOS EMTB text.