Cutting edge, life saving technology that could one day revolutionize healthcare worldwide, is in the spotlight today, and it's being used and tested right here in Northeast Ohio.

Our featured guests today are Pediatric Surgeon, Dr. Lorena Floccari, who directs the Akron Children's Hospital Spine Center, and Dr. George Muschler, who directs the Cleveland Clinic's Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Research Center, Clinical Tissue Engineering Center, and Joint Preservation Center.

As you will hear, Akron Children's Hospital just opened a brand new Operating Room, that features new low radiation imaging technology that is designed to make spine surgery safer and more effective. They're also using some new, custom-fabricated spine implants that conform better to individual patients.

With that in mind, I wondered if someday there might be custom implants made entirely out of a patients' own tissue and bone, created through the use of stem cells.

It turns out, the answer is "Yes", and though we're already part of the way there; the road to reaching that end goal is still long, with many fascinating and thought provoking, scientific, and even ethical twists and turns along the way.

Find out why. Listen now.