OncoEng - Oncological Engineering

About OncoEng

Three Universities in the UK, University of Birmingham, Imperial College and University College London, have come together to deliver research to change the treatment of spinal metastases and improve patient recovery and wellbeing.

For Researchers & Industry

OncoEng centres on a transformational systems engineering approach to metastatic bone disease in the spine – combining advanced image-based modelling and manufacturing to enable an optimised, metamaterial-based minimally invasive implant.

For Patients & Public

A new patient-specific implant will be developed that can be inserted using minimally invasive surgery reducing trauma to the patient, reducing recovery time to days rather than weeks or months.

Oncological Engineering:
A new concept in the treatment of bone metastases

Cancer prevalence in the UK is set to rise from 2 million in 2015 to 3.2 million by 2030.

Annually, 55,000 cases of bone cancer are diagnosed in the UKand of these 60% of of these will develop into metastatic bone disease. Metastases are the primary cause of mortality for many cancers.

In the spine metastases can destroy bone in the vertebrae, weakening the structure which can lead to spinal cord injury.

A patient-friendly approach is realised in OncoEng in which we predict which vertebrae with metastases are likely to fail, enabling informed decisions on treatment and care.

Advanced computational modelling and imaging will be used to look at the growth of the tumour so that predictions of the strength of the vertebrae can be calculated a different points in time.

Custom implants requiring only key-hole surgery will be developed to support the weakened bone in order to prevent fracture, optimised improve quality of life.