Complete - College of Medicine - University of Illinois at Urbana ...

“ When you bring one more person into the pro j e c t ,you actually bring in all of their
n e t wo rks. It doesn’t re q u i re a huge enterp rise to get a huge re s e rvoir of talent.”
readily agreed to a CAT scan to provide the data that would be
used to create a device that would act as a bone substitute and
promote healthy new bone and tissue growth.
Because the patient’s surgery was already scheduled, the
device needed to be created within a two-month timeframe.
That’s where the collaboration began to expand. “When you
bring one more person into the project, you actually bring in all
of their networks,” says Dr. Jamison. “It doesn’t require a huge
enterprise to get a huge reservoir of talent.” And talent is just
what they got.
Bringing the team together
Dr. Jamison contacted Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque. He was familiar with this U.S. Energy Department
research facility because one of his graduate students had
conducted bone substitute research there, and Jennifer Lewis,
Sc.D., an associate professor in his department, had assisted
with the development of Sandia’s Robocaster, a machine that
Jamison thought could create the device.
Sandia scientist Joe Cesarano, Ph.D., the Robocaster’s chief
inventor, agreed to take on the project, but first he needed a
computerized image of the patient’s jaw.
Dr. Goldwasser asked Sue Hartman, the head of Carle’s CT
Department, to begin the work. The scans were used by Janet
Sinn-Hanlon and Ben Grosser of the Imaging Technology Group
at the University of Illinois’s Beckman Institute to painstakingly
create the computer model Cesarano needed. Cesarano and
his colleagues then used the model to produce the implant
device and shipped it overnight so it would arrive in time
for the May 7 operation.
A successful collaboration
“The device fit perfectly,” says Dr. Goldwasser. “The CT
people had perfect images and transmitted the data with
incredible accuracy. Ben and Janet created a perfect model,
and Sandia did a tremendous job of creating the device and
getting it here on time.” After checking the fit, Dr. Goldwasser
immediately removed the implant because the device had not
yet received FDA approval. Then he continued with the surgery,
using the traditional bone harvesting procedure and using the
implant device to size the bone graft. The patient understood
she would be unable to keep the device, “but she was willing
to assist us in hopes of helping her children, grandchildren,
and others,” he says. “It’s the patient who is really at the
center of this collaboration.”
Creating partnerships
Such collaboration proves that it doesn’t always take years and
years for partnerships to bear fruit. In this case, it was less than a
year from the time Drs. Goldwasser and Jamison met to the date
of the successful implant.
“Goldwasser rolled up his sleeves and helped direct the team
to make things happen,” says Dr. Jamison. “He saw a problem,
identified a possible solution, stepped up, made the commitment,
and followed through. What’s been done here proves the concept
that reasonable people who don’t know each other’s discipline but
who are willing to acknowledge their own limitations can do a
great deal together. We can expand that model by further engaging
problems as a team—using a work circle model not an assembly
line approach. There is a great deal of promise in this type of
collaboration when engaging complex biomedical research issues.”
What’s Next?
Both Dr. Goldwasser and Dr. Jamison see tremendous
potential for this bone substitute device, with expanded
opportunities in oral and maxillofacial surgery as well as
possible orthopedic or neurosurgery applications. “We’ve
shown that it’s possible, but others will need to be engaged
to show whether it’s practical,” says Dr. Jamison.
Dr. Goldwasser envisions one such practical application.
An ideal use would allow the surgeon to create a device
by downloading CT scans to his or her desktop and using
a yet-to-be-developed software package to define the
borders of the implant system. The surgeon would then
send the model electronically to a manufacturer who
would fabricate the device using the surgeon’s parameters
and ship it within 24 to 48 hours. “If a reliable and userfriendly
software system could be created, there could
be tremendous opportunities for utilization of this
technique,” says Dr. Goldwasser.
While others pursue FDA approval and assess the
feasibility of practical applications, Drs. Goldwasser
and Jamison continue their research and add to their
collaborative team. Together with Matt Wheeler, Ph.D.,
a University of Illinois professor of veterinary clinical
medicine and the director of the transgenic animal facility,
they are currently conducting animal model research that
examines whether bone growth and healing can be
stimulated not just facilitated.
T h e P o w e r o f C o l l a b o r a t i o n
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