US-based medical device firm IlluminOss Medical has enrolled the first patient in its EU Light Fix trial, which has been designed to test the minimally invasive and patient-specific bone stabilization technology to treat impending and pathologic fractures in the humerus due to metastatic carcinoma.
The IlluminOss System has been designed for fracture fixation through patient-specific intramedullary implants and uses a light-curable polymer, contained within an expandable balloon catheter to achieve bone stabilisation.
The patient enrolled in the trial is a female with metastatic cancer of the left humerus, noted the company.
Dr Reinhard Windhager from Austria University Clinic of Vienna Orthopaedic Department will lead the trial, which includes the enrollment of around 45 patients at ten centers in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.
Windhager is an orthopedic oncologist who heads the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Vienna General Hospital (AKH).
Windhager said: "The IlluminOss System will potentially allow orthopedic surgeons to approach impending and actual fractures resulting from metastatic malignancy in a groundbreaking way that will benefit both the surgeon and the patient."
According to IlluminOss, the benefits observed from the use of the product in patients include smaller incisions, shorter procedure times, and more rapid post-procedure patient mobility with reduced hospital stays and lower complication rates.