DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW AND NOVEL TOTAL HIP PROSTHESIS

Abstract

In recent times, osteoarthritis has been more prevalent in the younger generation due to the increased demands on the joint caused by a more active lifestyle. However, total hip replacements have a limited lifespan; with early reports of radiographic loosening being as high as 40% at ten years after surgery and dislocation rates as high as 10% per annum.

In this study, we aim to validate, refine and finalize a novel developed hip prosthesis design that minimizes dislocation rates by incorporating a free rotation mechanism that would centralize the femoral head in the acetabular cup and a damping mechanism which would reduce peak impact forces acting on the bone and joint by a mixture of finite element modelling and biomechanical cadaveric experimentation.

The preliminary studies showed that our design concept does reduce bone strain and micromotion at the bone prosthesis interface, and centralized contact pressure distribution in the hip joint. These characteristics are hypothesized to prolong the survival of the hip prosthesis, reduce peri-prosthetic fractures, prosthesis dislocations and reduce overall revision rates.