World-first surgery uses super-elastic springs to treat baby’s rare skull condition

Rory became the first child to receive new “super elastic” springs designed to reshape the skull in a world-first operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Children with craniosynostosis usually undergo skull-reshaping surgery during their first months of life. For the past two decades, surgeons have used stainless-steel springs to widen the skull gradually, creating room for the brain to develop and new bone to grow.

“

Traditional stainless-steel springs are very robust, but they don't always allow us to finetune the force on the skull.

The new springs use nitinol, an alloy of nickel and titanium. Each device is custom-designed for the child, and its elastic properties allow it to adapt more naturally as the skull grows. The springs stay in place for several weeks or months before removal.

“

These new nitinol springs give us much greater flexibility and, in some cases, can prevent the need for further surgery.

Doctors believed Rory, who is now one, could benefit from the new technology because his condition was severe. Professor Owase Jeelani, the Great Ormond Street consultant neurosurgeon who led the operation, said traditional steel springs were robust but did not always allow surgeons to fine-tune the force placed on the skull. The nitinol springs, he said, offered greater flexibility and could sometimes prevent further surgery.

The springs were developed by experts at Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London. Professor Silvia Schievano, who led the UCL biomedical engineering team, said the work involved years of research and thousands of hours of preparation. The research received funding from Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and the National Institute for Health and Care Research GOSH Biomedical Research Centre.

“

This has been many years in the making, with thousands of hours of necessary research undertaken.