Patients with metastatic bone disease can suffer from severe pain, pathological fractures of long bones or even spinal cord compression. For these patients, the main focus is on improving their quality of life by providing pain relief and preserving function. At the moment, in order to destroy these lesions, there are two methods available: external beam radiotherapy and open surgery. Radiotherapy doesn’t always succeed in providing pain relief and when it does, it is not immediate.

With the current surgical procedure, pain relief is almost immediate and it eliminates the risk for complications like the ones mentioned above. However, it’s a demanding procedure for a patient who is in a debilitated state. In order to address this, the project focus on developing a minimally invasive alternative treatment. This involves the design of a prototype tool system that can remove the metastatic lesion effectively, reduce risk of tumor reoccurrence and provide structural support to the targeted area. Moreover, it will also include fracture risk predictions and simulations of the impact of the tool to the human bone and surrounding structures for a comprehensive understanding of the tool’s performance.