After wearing a brace for nine months, Caroline had to undergo surgery in 2010 because of the rapid progression of the three-dimensional deformity in her spine. The surgery was carried out by Dr. Stefan Parent at CHU Sainte-Justine, a world-renowned centre for the treatment of this condition. After a five-hour operation, Caroline emerged with two metal rods and 20 screws, 10 fused vertebrae and a 12-inch scar. She was able to start walking only two days after the surgery. Just a few years ago, she would have had to wear a plaster cast, been immobile and remain in hospital for several months. 

Today, Caroline is a radiant 16-year-old girl who will finish her Secondary 5 year of high school in a few months. She has written a “survival guide” for patients diagnosed with scoliosis. She no longer has any medical limitations and is getting ready to compete in the finals of the Blainville en Chansons music competition. 

Jordan is a cheerful 10-year-old boy who was recently diagnosed with progressive scoliosis and will undergo corrective spinal surgery during the summer. 

Caroline and Jordan say they owe a great deal to the Montréal research teams that are working on perfecting orthopedic surgical tools, such as the team headed by Professor Aubin of Polytechnique Montréal, who is also a researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine and holder of the NSERC/Medtronic Industrial Research Chair in Spine Biomechanics.

As a result of the advances made in the past five years, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Medtronic have renewed their support, thereby giving this chair a second five-year mandate to continue its work. The two institutions will each contribute $875,000, for a total of $1.75 million; Medtronic will also make an in-kind contribution of $519,000.

Engineering and medicine join forces to optimize treatments
Corrective surgery for scoliosis is complicated. Selecting the section of the spine to operate on, the type of implant to use, the forces to apply and predicting how the spine will adjust are just some of the challenges facing surgeons who operate using an empirical approach. During the first term of the chair, Professor Aubin asked the best surgeons in the world to share the strategies they would use to operate on a specific case put forward by the team of researchers in Montréal. The result: 30 surgeons came up with 30 different strategies.

Between 2007 and 2012, the Polytechnique/CHU Sainte-Justine team developed many tools to solve problems that orthopedic surgeons face when treating spinal conditions such as scoliosis, spondylolisthesis and poor balance. The research work carried out by the chair helped develop a spine surgery simulator, micro-implants to control the growth of the spine, as well as a variety of multifunctional operating tables. 

The renewed support from the NSERC and Medtronic will enable Professor Aubin's team to work through until 2018 on new projects that will include designing simulation tools aimed at better understanding the underlying principles of the treatments, designing and validating innovative devices that do not require fusing the vertebrae and that are as minimally invasive as possible, as well as developing a navigation/simulation system, similar to GPS, to assist and optimize surgeries, thereby changing the very concept of what will become the “operating room of the future.” The system will use cameras to determine the positioning of the surgeon's tools and of the anatomic structures. During the surgery, the software will simulate the installation of the implants as well as the corrective manoeuvres, and indicate the precise adjustments to make to preoperative planning in order to optimize the surgery. 

“It takes many years of work to make small advances in the treatment of conditions as complex as idiopathic scoliosis,” emphasizes Professor Aubin, who is also chief of the musculoskeletal disorders and rehabilitation axis at CHU Sainte-Justine. “The cases of Caroline, Jordan and other patients treated at CHU Sainte-Justine are, however, a great source of motivation for me and my team. We need the support provided by NSERC and Medtronic to continue our research and we are very grateful to them.” 

For his part, Dr. Fabrice Brunet, Chief Executive Officer of CHU Sainte-Justine, says: “The work done by the NSERC/Medtronic Chair is fully in keeping with a value that CHU Sainte-Justine promotes: research results that benefit patients directly. This is made possible by the fact that our researchers are directly involved with the patients at every stage of their journey in our hospital. We couldn't imagine a better way of integrating research and care.”

And Christophe Guy, Chief Executive Officer of Polytechnique Montréal, adds: “I am very pleased that the research activities will continue for a second five-year term, thanks to the renewed support of the NSERC and Medtronic. It is a significant gesture of confidence that confirms the excellence of the work being done and the desire to continue working steadily to treat such a complex condition.”

“We are proud to support the ongoing and ground-breaking research of Pr. Aubin and his team,” said Mr. Terry Finley, Senior Director of Restorative Therapies Group, Medtronic of Canada. “ His pioneering in biomechanical engineering and medical technologies has benefitted and enabled so many patients, particularly people living with scoliosis, to live full, pain-free lives, and has led innovation in Quebec.”

Our heartiest congratulations to Professor Aubin and his team!

See also:
Professor Aubin's expertise

Photo: Charline Provost