Orthopaedic Research from Hand Surgeon and Upper Extremity Specialist Dr. Bruce Steinberg

Dr. Steinberg enjoys performing medical research. Over the years, his focus has been on developing noninvasive diagnostic tools; his most recent evaluates a medical condition called Compartment Syndrome.

Dr. Steinberg became interested in Compartment Syndrome while in his residency at the Harvard Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Patients who suffered from injuries to their limbs with either broken bones or crush injuries can develop extreme swelling within their muscles. The swelling within the muscle leads to increased pressure reducing the ability for blood circulation to get to the muscle. If this condition is not diagnosed immediately, the patient can suffer from a permanent injury to his limb. This injury can lead to pain for the rest of the patient’s life as well as lack of function of the limb involved. Presently, the best way to objectively diagnose this condition is by placing a large needle into the muscle compartment and directly measuring the pressure within that muscle. This particular test is only performed by orthopaedic surgeons. Dr. Steinberg has been working on a noninvasive device to diagnose this condition so that the diagnosis could be made by other healthcare professionals such as nurses, EMTs, and emergency room physicians. Most recently, he teamed with orthopaedic surgeons at Shands Jacksonville who won the Harley and Betty Baxter Resident/Fellow Award for reporting of research that they performed using the noninvasive device and technique. A large clinical trial was completed at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, Level One Trauma Center, where the device and technique was tested with promising results.

Patents held by Dr. Steinberg

U.S. Patent #4,769,032, September 6, 1988
Prosthetic Heart Valve and Monitoring System

U.S. Patent #5,564,435, October 15, 1996
Noninvasive Compartment Measurement Device

U.S. Patent #5,483,971, December 1996
Noninvasive Compartment Measurement Device

U.S. Patent #6,659,967, December 9, 2003
Noninvasive Compartment Measurement Device

U.S. Patent #7,097,625, August 29, 2006
Noninvasive Compartment Measurement Device

U.S. Patent #7,232,415, June 19, 2007
Noninvasive Compartment Measurement Device

International Patent Publication, #W02007/145690A1, December 21, 2007
Noninvasive Compartment Measurement Device

European Patent, #1,441,646, July 2011
Noninvasive Compartment Measurement Device