Tamanna Rahman, Matthew J Kibble, Gianluca Harbert, Nigel Smith, Erik Brewer, Thomas P Schaer, Nicolas Newell
BACKGROUND: Nucleus replacement devices (NRDs) are not routinely used in clinic, predominantly due to the risk of device expulsion. Rigorous in vitro testing may enable failure mechanisms to be identified prior to clinical trials; however, current testing standards do not specify a particular expulsion test. Multiple methods have therefore been developed, complicating comparisons between NRD designs. Thus, this study assessed the effectiveness of four previously reported expulsion testing protocols; hula-hoop (Protocol 1), adapted hula-hoop (Protocol 2), eccentric cycling (Protocol 3), and ramp to failure (Protocol 4), applied to two NRDs, one preformed and one in situ curing...
June 2024: JOR Spine