“Different people draw lines differently on spine images,” Giers said. “Even with the same instructions, the results vary. That’s a huge problem when you’re trying to build predictive models.” To solve this, her lab, led by former graduate student Sonia Ahrens, H.B.S. bioengineering measurement methods using the center-of-mass and orientation of discs, a more robust and errortolerant method than previous clinical standards relying on discrete disc edges. These tools improved consistency and laid the groundwork for integration into neural networks for automated analysis. FROM LAB TO STARTUP: THE BIRTH OF SPINE BY DESIGN This work emerged from Giers’ postdoctoral collaboration with surgeons at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona, who had amassed large datasets but lacked the tools to analyze them. Initially brought in to run stats on the data for a journal article, Giers realized the potential for something bigger. “I saw that the reherniation risk was predictable,” she said. “That’s when I knew we had something.” Unfortunately, after starting at Oregon State, Giers repeated the study with multiple institutional partners and found the results were not repeatable because of the large variation between the way individual clinicians take spine measurements. That’s when she knew she could leverage her image-processing background to standardize spine measurements between institutes, not just as a precursor for the reherniation risk prediction, but for the entire spectrum of spine care. Thus, the idea for Spine by Design was born. Encouraged by Charla Triplett, who earned a master’s in bioengineering at Oregon State, has sat on the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering’s Industry Advisory Board for 19 years, and is currently the CEO of Spine by Design, Giers transitioned from academic publishing to entrepreneurship. The company’s intellectual property centers on how spine measurements are taken, rather than the predictions themselves. Morgan Giers (left) and graduate student Rachel Thompson prepare a bovine vertebral disc section for analysis. WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 8
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