Engineers explore bone stabilisation

The study will analyse whether certain techniques - such as injecting cements into the spine to stabilise the bone or using plates to fix fractures - can be adapted for affected patients.

Although incurable, improvements in treatment mean that patients with multiple myeloma are surviving for longer, with up to a third surviving for at least five years. However, a better prognosis means that secondary symptoms, such as painful bone deterioration, have more time to take effect.

‘Our aim is to give people suffering from this disease a better quality of life,’ said Richard Hall, professor of Spinal Biomechanics and leader of the research at Leeds University’s Faculty of Engineering. ‘If the spine becomes weakened or fractured, patients can do little more than stay in bed and try to deal with the pain. The majority of multiple myeloma patients are in their sixties or older, but even simple things that we take for granted, such as sitting your grandchild on your knee, can become impossible for them.’