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Lance Armstrong’s Carbon Fiber Collarbone Replacement

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Lance Armstrong's Bontrager inForm CarbonClavicle Upgrade

In what’s sure to give him a further strength-to-weight ratio advantage, Lance Armstrong has received the first carbon fiber implant ever.  Working with the OCLV experts at Trek, the Bontrager team developed the composite clavicle to get Lance back on the bike and ready for the Giro.  Here’s the official word:

PRESS RELEASE: Today, Lance Armstrong and Bontrager released more detail regarding Armstrong’s recent collarbone surgery. While it was previously reported that Armstrong’s right clavicle was screwed and plated back together after his March 23rd crash at the Castilla y Leon stage race in Spain, Armstrong and equipment sponsor Bontrager, jointly announced that he was the world’s first recipient of an inForm® Full Carbon Clavicle Upgrade.

Originally slated to be released at the AAOS (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeon) Convention May 18-24th in Las Vegas, Bontrager moved up the launch date of the inForm CarbonClavicleâ„¢ to aid the return of Armstrong to the peloton.

“The original intent of the Bontrager inForm line was to use medical research to aid us in creating better cycling contact points, such as saddles, shoes and grips. But when we did the research into the most common cycling related injuries, the broken collarbone proved to be an area where we could actually help cyclists get back on the road sooner,” relates John Balmer, head of Bontrager Development.

The CarbonClavicleâ„¢, available in 4 male sizes and 4 WSD (Women’s Specific Design) sizes for both left and right shoulders, is an actual carbon fiber replacement of the clavicle. Developed with the aid of Sports Medicine Specialist Dr. Mark Timmerman, a Bontrager consultant, the inForm CarbonClavicle has greater shock absorption, greater impact strength and a greater tensile strength—while being grams lighter than the OEM bone.

Read “more” for detailed photos and X-Rays…

inform_implant

“The installation on Armstrong was completely coincidental, but I must admit, the Bontrager marketing team was doing high-fives when we heard about Lance’s crash. It really was a marketing god-send. I mean, could there have been a better way to launch the new Bontrager medical Upgrade line?” explains Chris Clinton, Bontrager Marketing Manager.

The installation procedure is substantially quicker than the conventional collarbone repair procedures of stabilizing, drilling and pinning, as this is a full replacement. Essentially, the broken bone is completely removed and the carbon one is anchored in place. Armstrong’s procedure took approximately 30 minutes and will reduce his recovery time from 3 weeks to typically 5-7 days for the sutures to fully heal.

The delay in releasing details was due to an extended approval process with the UCI, which has now ruled that since this piece is structural yet provides only minor aerodynamic advantage over the traditional bump of a healed broken clavicle, it falls with the current parameters of the UCI rules.

collar_bone_xray

Future sponsorship plans include full support and pre-emptive upgrades for the full Trek-Livestrong U23 team. “These guys are early in their careers, and if averages apply to the team, we think we can prevent about 10 or more future breaks across the 12 members of the team,” adds Clinton.

Backed by the best in industry Bontrager 5 year warranty, inForm CarbonClavicles will be available through referrals from Trek and Fisher dealers exclusively. Retail prices will be set by the retailer.

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Ron
Ron
14 years ago

almost believed that one… ofcourse, cf is not bio compatible. 🙂

Jake
Jake
14 years ago

The “available in 4 male sizes and 4 WSD (Women’s Specific Design) sizes” gives it away too.

Daniel
Daniel
14 years ago

It’s a great article, but the idea is almost terrifying. 100yrs from now, who’s to say that people won’t be upgrading for lighter, faster, bio-parts?

Bob McEnaney
14 years ago

I was about ready to tell all the cyclists I coach to not worry about broken collarbones in the future. What a breakthrough! Good one! 🙂

Bob
http://totalcyclingperformance.com/blog/

Dale Holder
14 years ago

Well written and hard to tell if it is real or not, but somebody has too much time on their hands.

Very cool.

Jeff
Jeff
14 years ago

It’s easy to tell that its not real if you look at the x-ray. If you look closely at the post-op chest x-ray, his cardiac silhouette is on the same side as his repair, the right. So apparently lance has dextrocardia. most people’s hearts are on their left side. nice try.

brian
brian
14 years ago

More importantly, the bogus x-ray is that of a skeletally immature individual – note the open physes below the humeral head. Last time I checked, Lance had made it through puberty.

Quin
Quin
14 years ago

Pretty cool pics but there are some flaws… I am an xray tecnologist and these xrays are incorrect. That is a picture of a left clavicle. If you look the dark black pocket of air under the lung is the stomach and that is on the left side of the body, also the heart is on the left side of the body and in this xray they have it on the right side. So in conculsion cool pictures but fake and the person that created these needs to take a class in basic human anatomy.

Anton
Anton
10 years ago

I might have believed it if human bodies didn’t react to carbon fiber. The fake x-ray escaped my notice, however, because I have never seen a real one before. This could happen someday, though. Maybe if the cf was coated in a substance that the body didn’t react to… like steel, maybe?

Doctor
Doctor
10 years ago

Interesting that Lance suddenly developed growth plates and skeletal structure of a 13 year old after surgery…. Fake xrays

Doctor Who
Doctor Who
9 years ago

Um did none of you making comments not notice when this was written?

April 1, 2009

April Fools…

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