DrMehdiSaeidi

Summary

Mehdi Saeidi is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at the Department of Bioengineering. For this fellowship, he has devised a novel bone transport nail to reconstruct large bone defects caused after trauma or tumour removal. This is to overcome the current limitations of bone transport techniques that use intramedullary nails. These are: the daily involvement of patients during the distraction process, regular interventions by surgeons and the significant cost of the procedure. These limitations have led to limited use of this method regardless of its superior outcomes compared to other commonly used techniques. It is becoming more popular now as it overcomes the limitations of external fixators: a prolonged treatment time, diligent care, as well as psychological, hygiene, and daily activity burden for patients and caregivers. Improving the process and reducing its cost, can considerably promote the use of the nails. Therefore, he aims to overcome this translational barrier by developing a novel distraction mechanism. The unique design of the nails allows manufacturing by traditional processes and additive manufacturing. Given the type of trauma and tumour, the defect could be developed at different places in the bone. Therefore, surgical and technical considerations will be considered in collaboration with world leaders in bone cancer/transport surgery, during his secondment at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. This nail is not only advantageous compared to the available ones but also a low-cost option that can make this technique more affordable and available worldwide, particularly in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Before the fellowship, he was working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Bioengineering for over two years. He developed one of a kind toolkit including special jigs to produce the Imperial External Fixator using conventional processes in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). He was also leading the testing and short-scale clinical trials of the device in different countries.

Before joining Imperial College, Mehdi received his PhD from Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, where he developed a new load-sharing implant for early-onset knee osteoarthritis (Researchers developing pioneering implants to slow the progress of osteoarthritis). He collaborated with researchers at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) and Medical School at the University of Auckland. He presented his work at a number of events, which led to his receiving awards from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Falling Walls Foundation (Breaking the Wall of Knee Replacement), and Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Using his background and experiences in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and Materials Science, Mehdi is passionate about developing new or improved solutions in Biomechanics, Medical Devices, Orthopaedics, and Trauma.

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