Innovative Ways to Prevent Spinal Injuries
More than 150,000 North Americans suffer spine fractures and almost 17,000 injure their spinal cords every year. Spine fractures and spinal cord injuries are among the leading causes of disability and result in significant health-care costs, because of long, difficult and often incomplete recoveries.
Dr. Yvan Petit, Canada Research Chair in Engineering Innovations in Spinal Trauma, aims to reduce the risk and severity of spine and spinal cord injuries caused by accidents and to find ways to avoid increasing the severity of these injuries during treatment.
Petit is working to increase understanding of how vertebral fractures and spinal cord injuries occur in accidents, so that he can design protective devices that stabilize the spine and guard against serious injuries. He is developing experimental and digital trauma simulation models and cutting-edge engineering methods to find innovative ways to protect against spinal injuries.
Petit’s research will lead to the design of devices that will protect and stabilize the spines of people who are at risk of spine and spinal cord trauma.