Westchester is home to two of the top spine surgeons and prolific inventors in the country.
Dr. Seth Neubardt and Dr. John A. Abrahams, both based out of Westchester Avenue in Harrison, were recently recognized as two of 61 “Spine Surgeon Inventors to Know” by Becker”™s Orthopedic and Spine Review due to their innovative inventions.
Neubardt, an orthopedic spine surgeon, holds 22 patients, while Abrahams holds 16.
“Surgical inventors follow a simple set of patient focused rules,” Abrahams said in a statement. “How can I make this safer? How can I reduce pain? How can I get the patient out of the hospital more quickly?”
Abrahams invented a medical hydrogel that reduces bleeding during surgery, eliminating post-surgery complications. He is chief of neurosurgery and co-director of the Orthopedic Institute”™s Spine Section at Northern Westchester Hospital and associate professor of neurosurgery at New York Medical College.
Abrahams”™ inventions have led to him forming several small companies designed to make spinal surgery easier and also improve communication in health care.
Growing up, Abrahams said he was always a tinkerer, and even while he was at medical school at the University of Pennsylvania he wanted to be an inventor. He also has a master”™s in biomedical engineering from RPI.
“I take what I learned and I pick up these ideas,” Abrahams said. “I”™m always taking stuff apart and putting it back together. I”™ve always been a technophile, which makes me really different. I”™ve been able to use my background as a computer engineer.”
Abrahams said he was excited to be named to the list, and that he wants to work with Neubardt in the future.
“It makes you feel good about what you”™re doing,” he said. “It makes you want to do more. Me and Seth think we should work together, but we haven”™t teamed up on any inventions.”
Abrahams said his long-term goal is to continue to have smaller surgeries that produce better outcomes.
Neubardt has branched out of the medical field, inventing a device that improves the mechanisms of umbrellas, though in medicine, he only invents to enhance the quality of a patient”™s life.
“Through our inventions we are able to help more patients than we could ever personally see in our practice,” Neubardt said.
A procedure Neubardt patented to safely insert screws during spinal surgery is used in 250 hospitals and 15 countries.
