William Tally (Athens Orthopedic Clinic, Greece) has performed the first spinal surgery using a new stem cell technology aimed at offering a long term solution to the degeneration of the spine.
Using a product from Vivex Biomedical located in Marietta, Georgia, Tally injected a type of adult stem cells, named the MIAMI cells after the original research done at the University of Miami, into a patients dehydrated intervertebral discs in his back.
“This was the first clinical application of this new cell line and is a very exciting new approach to spinal surgery,” Tally said. “The outcome of the procedure will hopefully improve the patients back symptoms by bending the curve of the normal trajectory of early disc degeneration.”
The surgery was performed on 22-year-old, Florida resident, Nicholas Schiller after extensive vertebral injuries. The procedure took place last summer at Athens Orthopedic clinic and a recent MRI evaluation revealed the progress and success of the procedure.
Nicholas’s father, Paul Schiller, developer of the MIAMI cell, contacted Tally after his son’s injury for a consultation. Although the results were strong in other orthopaedic applications with the cell, this was the first time it was going to be used in a spinal procedure.
Nine-months post-surgery, the pre-med student says he is very happy with the surgical outcome and can hardly believe he is already playing basketball again with his friends. “We are very thankful for Tally and Athens Orthopedic Clinic,” comments the Schiller family.
Athens Orthopedic Clinic is one of the research sites for studies using the MIAMI cell. According to a press release, the marrow-isolated adult multi-lineage inducible cell, or MIAMI cell, is highly inducible and potent, partially because it shares genes with embryonic stem cells, and because the process used to isolate it allows for the infusion of a purer MIAMI cell concentration.
