Next Generation ACLR Surgical Tools

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is one of the most common sports injuries in the United States with over 100,000 cases per year. Even with direct repair after rupture, the ACL is unable to heal itself due to being in an environment which is hostile to healing. In order to return functionality to the knee, ACL reconstruction surgery is performed using grafts such as hamstring tendon, patellar tendon, and allograft tissue grafts. Due to a high post-surgical failure rate of 10-15%, there is a need for alternatives to existing surgical tools and practices. 

The DePuy Mitek-Olin SCOPE team was tasked with designing and developing such alternatives. The goals of this project were to understand the surgical processes of ACL reconstruction, identify areas of opportunity, delineate critical product requirements, and prototype a functionalproduct concept. Using a surgeon-oriented design process, the team built and demonstrated the use of a fully functional prototype of a new surgical tool for ACLR.

Mitek poster

Faculty Advisors
Alisha Sarang-Sieminski
Rebecca Christianson

Team Members
Erica Chin 
Aaron Greenberg 
Kendall Pletcher