Jacqueline Perry and Vernon Nickel (Figure 1) developed the halo skeletal fixator in the 1950s at Rancho Los Amigos hospital in southern California. Perry and Nickel first described their device in the literature for postsurgical stabilization of patients with poliomyelitis undergoing cervical arthrodesis1 (Figure 2). Previous to the halo skeletal fixator, many surgeons had used axial traction provided by wires passed through burr holes placed in the skull for cervical spinal stabilization.2 Although this technique provided excellent longitudinal traction, it did not allow for rotational control in the sagittal, transverse, or coronal planes. With the development of the halo fixator, Perry and Nickel described a device that provided better overall control of cervical spine stability.
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