Lab History
 

 

In the early 1970s, two orthopaedic surgeons and a bioengineer at The University of Michigan combined their unique balance of clinical insights and mechanical aptitude to design one of the first semiconstrained total knee replacements for patients with severe deformity and instability. Based on a ball-and-socket hinge, the Spherocentric Knee was implanted in patients beginning in 1973.

Larry Matthews, David Sonstegard and Herbert Kaufer received a patent for the Spherocentric Knee in 1975 and the Governor's award for design innovation and each continued to advance the practice of orthopaedic surgery with novel clinical and scientific contributions throughout their careers. Equally important, these three pioneers along with the other faculty in Orthopaedics, laid the foundation for a research philosophy that became the hallmark of orthopaedic investigations at The University of Michigan. All investigations, applied and basic science, begin with a focus on addressing clinically important questions in orthopaedic surgery.

 
  In 1981, Steve Goldstein joined the faculty in Orthopaedics and together with Larry Matthews opened the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory. Their collaboration and vision grew to symbolize the extraordinary synergy between clinical orthopaedics and basic orthopaedic science for which The University of Michigan became recognized. The original laboratory was a 180ft2 facility located in the Kresge I Building.

 

Also in 1981, the Counter Rotating Biopsy Needle was developed. The device allowed clinicians to take bone biopsies while preserving the integrity of trabecular architecture for subsequent pathologic analysis. It is still used today. In 1982, the IntraCone Reaming System with its flexible Rotalink shaft was created for intramedullary reaming prior to fracture fixation. Currently, the IntraCone System is manufactured by Zimmer and is still used in many operating rooms today.
   

 

In 1983, under the direction of Steve Goldstein and Larry Matthews, the laboratory packed its bags and moved to a charming 700ft2 facility on the ground floor of the North Ingalls Building. With the change in location came a change in name: The Biomechanics, Trauma and Sports Medicine Laboratory, reflecting expanded investigations into other aspects of orthopaedic science and therapy. Most importantly, this move also marked the development of the organizational principles that guide the laboratory to this day; specifically, the creation of a consortium laboratory facility to support the academic activities of the faculty in Orthopaedics through the development of multidisciplinary core capabilities and support staff.  

 

  At the same time, Dennis Kayner joined the laboratory as its first staff member. A stalwart research engineer later dubbed "The Captain", Dennis promptly threw the laboratory on his back and proceeded to carry it into the next millennium. More importantly, Dennis was signed as the first Biohazards' franchise player and has ruthlessly retired countless batters who were foolish enough to approach the plate while he was on the mound.

 

In 1981, the laboratory began a program to more completely understand bone-implant interfaces, and the relationship between mechanics and bone tissue behavior. In 1986, the laboratory proposed that tibial component fixation in a total knee implant could be enhanced by a two tiered system. The first tier provided mechanical interference fit via several large protruding cones. The second tier was the use of a porous coating on the cone surfaces to promote bone tissue ingrowth and stability at a much more microscopic scale. This implant was called the InstaCone Knee. In 1995, after nearly ten years of intense research, the InstaCone Knee was first implanted in a patient.  

 

  Paralleling these novel applied studies in orthopaedic surgery, several efforts were made to understand basic relationships between mechanics, bone tissue architecture and disorders of bone integrity. In 1984, the laboratory , along with colleagues at Henry Ford Hospital, began collaborating with Lee Feldkamp at Ford Motor Company who developed the first microcomputed tomography (microCT) system. While microCT employs technology similar to clinical CT scanners, it provides 3 dimensional imaging at a resolution that is an order of magnitude superior and allows researchers to measure various features of bone architecture. In 1987, with funds from the National Institutes of Health, the laboratory began constructing the first microCT system at a University. MicroCT has been an indispensable tool in advancing our understanding of osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, fracture healing and normal structure-function relationships in bone. The fundamental studies over the next decade lead to the establishment of 5 companies that now offer MicroCT systems commercially to investigators around the world.

 

The surgical faculty and their research activities grew rapidly over the years leading to the need for recruiting additional basic science faculty. Janet Kuhn, Ph.D., became the laboratory's second basic science faculty member in 1987. Her experience investigating trabecular bone architecture and material properties fit well with the lab's current research programs, and her interest in the mechanisms of tissue adaptation, particularly the effects of mechanical stresses on morphogenesis, led to numerous new research initiatives.  

 

  Also in 1987, a 'satellite' laboratory was added as part of the new Sports Medicine Center at Domino's Farms (MedSport). The 700ft2 facility is particularly well suited for kinematic and physiologic measures on patients or human subjects. This part of the lab, and its productive sports medicine faculty, have become renowned for their contribution to sports medicine research.

 

The laboratory grew into even more of a consortium in 1991, as it added two new basic science faculty members with diverse interests and expertise.

 

Scott Hollister, Ph.D., brought experience in computational mechanics and interest in analytical approaches to bone adaptation. The pairing of in vivo studies with computational modeling has become a paradigm for which the laboratory is recognized worldwide. While Dr. Hollister moved his affiliation and laboratory to the engineering school in 1999 he has remained an important collaborator and student mentor.  

 

  Louis Soslowsky, Ph.D., joined the laboratory as an expert in the study of soft tissues. His research focused on joint mechanics and soft tissue remodeling. This work greatly increased the breadth of investigations performed in the laboratory, as well as providing fruitful collaborations with numerous clinical faculty. Dr. Soslowsky remained on the faculty until 1997, when he was recruited to become Director of Orthopaedic Research at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

By 1991, the main laboratory in the North Ingalls Building had expanded to 6000ft2 and was renamed the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories (ORL) to reflect the ever expanding multidisciplinary research on the musculoskeletal system. The lab became known for its use of a hierarchical approach to the study of orthopaedic tissues and diseases, where projects investigated the whole organ down to the genes produced within the nucleus. The clinical faculty continued to grow and become more active in research. In addition, collaborations with faculty from many departments and schools at Michigan grew as well as with numerous laboratories throughout the world.  

 

  Collaboration between Steve Goldstein and U of M researchers in molecular genetics and pathology (J. Bonadio) and biomaterials and cardiology (R. Levy) brought development of a new generation of orthopaedic 'device' to the ORL. In 1995, studies of the transfer of genetic material into wound sites to provide a means for stimulating healing began in the laboratory, ushering in the age of molecular based therapies for orthopaedic disorders. This technology led to the development of a spin-off company, Matrigen Inc. By 1998, Matrigen became Selective Genetics through a corporate merger. Selective Genetics continues to collaborate with the ORL and is nearing clinical trials using their 'Gene Activated Matrices' as a tissue engineering approach to treat disorders of skin, bone, nerve and cardiac tissue.

 

The growth of orthopaedic research at the cellular and molecular level led to the addition of Maria Moalli, DVM, to the basic science faculty in 1995. Her specialized training in both cellular and molecular biology and Laboratory Animal Science added significant new expertise to the laboratory. She has focused on investigating the relationship between mechanical forces and cellular gene expression, thus extending the laboratories work to the smallest hierarchical scale of orthopaedic tissues. In order to accommodate this expanding research area prior to the renovations of the ORL, Dr. Moalli had to utilize 500ft2 of temporary laboratory space in the Medical Science complex.  

 

  The laboratories continued to grow. Richard Hughes, Ph.D., joined the laboratory as an Assistant Professor in 1998.

 

In 2001, Barbara McCreadie, Ph.D. joined the basic science faculty to establish a research program focused on computational modeling and structure function relationships of bone extracellular matrix. Her unique expertise is beginning to form an understanding of the structural/mechanical interactions that occur at the interface between cells and their extracellular matrix.  

 

  At the start of the new millennium, the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories completed extensive renovations, and now occupies 8500ft2 in the North Ingalls Building. The expansion included bringing on line a complete molecular biology laboratory, a cell culture facility and expanded materials testing capabilities. In addition, there was a major reorganization of the existing space to more optimally utilize the entire laboratory complex.

 

To date, this multidisciplinary core facility has supported the research of an extraordinarily productive faculty in Orthopaedic Surgery. It has also served as the classroom for training a large and exceptionally talented group of graduate, undergraduate and medical students, residents and postdoctoral fellows. The new and renewed laboratory complex is now positioned to further enhance our ability to advance orthopaedic health care and to enable the University of Michigan to remain a leader in orthopaedic research well into the next millenium.