Biomechanical Testing of a Novel Pelvic Fracture Device

CurvaFix Engineering, 2025–26

Liaison(s): Carly Thaler ’95, Eric Whittaker, Kendrick Coburn
Advisor(s): Marissa Sinopoli ’18
Students(s): Maya Jenkins (TL-S), Izze Stolzoff (TL-F), Sara Wexler (TL-F), Adne Brako, Nyah Hamilton (S), Angel Perez (S), Kasey Hartman (F), Katie Latvakoski (F)

Every year, approximately 200,000 people sustain a pelvic fracture in the United States. Traditional plates and screws used to stabilize these fractures fail in 12–75% of cases due to hardware breaking or loosening over time. CurvaFix Inc. designs and manufactures a flexible implant that conforms to the curvature of the pelvis, providing stable fixation while reducing the risk of hardware failure. Clinical adoption of these implants may be increased with biomechanical validation. The CurvaFix Clinic team developed a biomechanical test to compare the fixation of the CurvaFix Implant against that of traditional plates and screws across fractures in the pelvis.