A local orthopedic company is in the process of mapping "a pathway through new territory" by becoming involved with the reconstructive surgery process on recently separated conjoined twins.

According to Dr. Dane Miller, president and CEO of Biomet Inc., Biomet will become a commercial partner with the doctors in Dallas, Texas, who are caring for Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim, 2-year-old conjoined twins who were separated Oct. 11 in a 34-hour surgery.

The boys were joined at the tops of their heads. Skin expanders, placed in their heads and thighs about five months ago, created tissue that was used to cover the wounds resulting from the separation.

Most recently, the boys are off antibiotics, and Mohamed sat up Tuesday, with the help of a therapist, for the first time in his 2-year life.

As the toddlers begin to move around independently, it's more critical than ever for them to have a safe covering for their skull wounds.

That's where Biomet will help.

Dr. Ken Salyer, a top facial and cranial surgeon with ties to Biomet through Walter Lorenz Surgical, a Biomet subsidiary in Florida, is leading the team of 40 doctors, nurses and other staff caring for and monitoring the twins. Salyer recently contacted Miller at Biomet and discussed the twins' situation.

"This sort of thing has never been done with children before," Miller said of fabricating a skull covering material for the boys. "We have done it on more mature children, but these have a lot of growing to do. We have to make sure we provide for material that will allow them to grow."

Miller will be part of a four-person medical team meeting in early November with the doctors in Dallas to map out the process and discuss options.

Tissue expansion is the next step, he said, "then we begin the process of the design state - not only designing the implant, but the materials it will be made out of."

He said the final product will probably be a combination of biological and synthetic products.

"We've got to move quickly," he said. "As they get active, they're going to" need more and more protection.

Salyer and Miller will hold a press conference next week to announce the partnership, he said.

Biomet will donate the results of the project, he added, "from the standpoint of the pure science that goes into it, and also from a humanitarian standpoint."

The twins are now at Childrens Medical Center in Dallas, and their progress can be followed at www.childrens.com/twins [[In-content Ad]]