About

On September 19-23, 2022 at the World Congress on Pain Dr. Fryer’s self-developed Pain Meter will be presented as a poster on the device’s reliability and validity. Two other Universities are currently using this device to understand a patient’s experience of pain.

On Nov 29th, 2022 Jerome’s work on his patented ergonomic workstation chair was published in the journal Ergonomics. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in spine compression compared to the control seat.

On Oct 1st, 2020, Jerome Fryer revealed what he has been developing over the past three years. The Pain Meter is a device he uses to help extract more data about the mechanical clinical encounter to help him arrive at a more accurate diagnosis. This is a simple hand-held tool that a patient holds in hand to express the degree of tenderness the patient feels while Dr. Fryer palpates and probes the anatomical tissues in question that cause mechanical pain. This device allows the patient to be listened to and empowers the patient to help monitor forces elicited to ensure that the practitioner does not over-stress any sensitive tissues. Currently, this device is being included in the methodology of a dissertation award-winning study by Mona Frey.  The award was issued by the International Society of Biomechanics.

Dr. Fryer continues to push forward with several projects. After in 2010 publishing two papers on the simple act of using one’s arms to decompress one’s own spine, he has since developed an ergonomic chair. In 2019, a group of researchers from the SpineLab at Memorial University in St. Johns Newfoundland presented the data at the 50th annual convention of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists.  The study, which included gamers, looked at posture change and spine height loss over a one hour period of sitting. The subject group included healthy males playing the popular video game Fortnite. The results showed that Dr. Fryer’s ergonomic chair decompressed the spine as he predicted it would. Publication of the Triton Support Chair will soon be revealed.

Dr. Fryer continues to research and investigate his latest observation in the sound source of a joint ‘crack’ after the serendipitous discovery of what he believes to be making the noise with spinal manipulation. His curiosity into this started when he asked the question after his first chiropractic adjustment in 1996: “where is that popping noise coming from?” After nearly 20 years of thinking on the topic, along with his development work with The Oracle Model, has led to his hypothesis of a synovial fold release, a similar mechanism to a suction cup release. Data collection using cine MRI at the University of Alberta led to the publication in a peer-reviewed open-access journal in PLOS One.

Further study on the topic of the sound source origin of a joint crack has led to a short paper submitted to the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association on March 26, 2016, which was published on Mar 15th, 2017. It is titled: A proposed in vitro model for investigating the mechanisms of ‘joint cracking’: a short report of preliminary techniques and observations.

The University of British Columbia’s Mechanical Engineering Department conducts a follow-up study on the ongoing investigation and publications. A successful campaign to attract $29,000 helped fund the study. These monies have been donated by colleagues, Dr. Jerome Fryer’s patients and the Blue Moon Fund (Vancouver division). Currently, the project is on hold because of physical restrictions due to Covid19.

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In the May 2017 edition of Canadian Chiropractor Magazine, Dr. Jerome Fryer was highlighted as a cover story with his work on the sound origins of joint cracking (audible release). His interests are in the study of the sound origins and mechanisms of joint movement.

• At the Annual General Meeting in Victoria (2015), Dr. Jerome Fryer was awarded for Excellence in Research – issued by the British Columbia College of Chiropractors (The Award of Excellence is granted to BCCA members who have demonstrated exceptional dedication or service to the chiropractic profession and/or the community)
• The publication in The Journal of Sleep Disorders and Therapy is another example of his drive to understand better the optimal forces in the greater understanding of hydraulic recuperation of the spinal discs in sleep. This is a continuing theme evolving from his previous work on the hydraulics of the spine and sleep.
• Having completed and published the follow-up study to a “Preliminary investigation of a seated unloaded strategy for the lumbar spine: a pilot study” which was published in The Spine Journal, the next task is to find funding to conduct the hypothesis REM atonia manuscript (with the biomedical engineering department at UBC); a sleep-spine study through the MRI UBC research center. This is an investigation of REM sleep and its relationship to the muscles and corresponding regenerative intervertebral disc hydraulics.
• Dr. Jerome Fryer, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Dynamic Disc Designs Corp continues to add new anatomical spine models to www.dynamicdiscdesigns.com with testimonials from all over the world. Read more.
• A research grant has been awarded to Dr. Jerome Fryer from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Dr. Jerome Fryer has now completed the work (2012) regarding this project with the University of Alberta in the research and development of human spine modelling.

Dr. Fryer is a reviewer of submitted manuscripts published by Dove Medical Press for the Journal of Pain Research. Fryer provided his latest review on pain in children and in the management of common conditions. He is also a reviewer for publications with other journals including Human Factors.