About the Authors
- Richard Kasch
-
* E-mail: richard.kasch@uni-greifswald.de
Affiliation Clinic and Outpatient Clinic for Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery, Greifswald University Medicine, Greifswald, Germany
- Birger Mensel
-
Affiliation Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald University Medicine, Greifswald, Germany
- Florian Schmidt
-
Affiliation Clinic and Outpatient Clinic for Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery, Greifswald University Medicine, Greifswald, Germany
- Sebastian Ruetten
-
Affiliation Department of Spine Surgery and Pain Therapy, Center for Orthopedics and Traumatology, St Anna-Hospital Herne, Herne, Germany
- Thomas Barz
-
Affiliation Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Asklepios Hospital Uckermark, Schwedt, Germany
- Susanne Froehlich
-
Affiliation Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Medical Center of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
- Rebecca Seipel
-
Affiliation Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald University Medicine, Greifswald, Germany
- Harry R. Merk
-
Affiliation Clinic and Outpatient Clinic for Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery, Greifswald University Medicine, Greifswald, Germany
- Ralph Kayser
-
Affiliation Clinic and Outpatient Clinic for Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery, Greifswald University Medicine, Greifswald, Germany
Competing Interests
The authors have the following interests: ArthroCare Deutschland, Reimscheid, provided the technical equipment needed for nucleoplasty. The authors received for the project the nucleoplasty Convenience Pack (DLR SpineWand and sterile 17-gauge Crawford needle (6") with mandrin) from ArthroCare Germany. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: R. Kasch HRM R. Kayser. Performed the experiments: BM FS RS HRM. Analyzed the data: R. Kasch BM FS SR TB SF RS HRM R. Kayser. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: R. Kasch BM FS RS. Wrote the paper: R. Kasch BM TB SR SF HRM R. Kayser.