Project description
Better predictive models could reduce unnecessary spinal surgery
Spinal surgery is daunting in any case. For patients who are already battling cancer, the prospect carries with it additional physical and psychological burdens. Many cancer patients exhibit metastases to the spine, which form lesions that destroy bone (lytic spinal metastases), increasing the risk of fracture. Currently, there are no accurate quantitative approaches to determine this risk and thus whether a patient should undergo a serious intervention. The EU-funded METASPINE project is characterising these spinal lesions both experimentally and through modelling to develop predictive software that will accurately inform clinicians' decisions regarding the need for surgical treatment.
Objective
Lytic spinal metastases are frequent in cancer patients and can weaken vertebrae, increasing the risk of fracture and leading to spine instability. Qualitative scoring systems are used by oncologists and orthopaedic surgeons to decide if the metastatic vertebrae need to be surgically treated. However these guidelines are not accurate for all those patients with middle-size lesions. An accurate, quantitative and mechanistic computational model would improve the prediction of the risk of fracture in these patients. However, such models need first to be validated against well-controlled expertiments in the laboratory.
METASPINE will deliver for the first time a method to comprehensively understand the effect of the properties of bone lesions on the mechanical competence of metastatic vertebrae.
In this project, lytic defects will be experimentally reproduced in the vertebrae, which will be tested under multi-axial loading conditions in order to evaluate the effect of the lesions on the displacement and strain fields distributions. A combination of state of the art in situ mechanical testing, microCT imaging and Digital Volume Correlation will be used. Simultaneously, subject specific clinical CT based finite element models of the metastatic vertebrae will be generated, validated against the experimental data, and used to simulate scenarios which cannot be reproduced experimentally.
The applicant (Dr Marco Palanca) is a research fellow in the field of experimental spine biomechanics. He will apply his experimental skills to optimise the sample preparation, and mechanical testing. Moreover, the supervision, mentoring, and training provided by the host organization (University of Sheffield, Dr Dall’Ara and Integrative Musculoskeletal Biomechanics group) on imaging and subject-specific finite element modelling will complete his profile as a bioengineer with a specialization in tumour and spine biomechanics.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences biological sciences biophysics
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
S10 2TN SHEFFIELD
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.