A New Implant Extends Life of an Artificial Hip Joint
Scientists have created a new implant for hip replacement which could, according to them, replace and extend the life of implants currently used as part of a hip replacement.
The new implant differs from the existing ones by its porosity and by the fact that it can more or less reproduce the cellular structure of the porous portion of the surrounding femur. This allows, according to the team, to "trick" the host bone by reproducing the fluctuating porosity of a real bone. The implant is known as a femoral stem and connects the living femur with the artificial hip joint.
Its designer, Damiano Pasini, began working on the concept of the implant six years ago. He explains: “What we’ve done throughout the femoral stem is to replicate the gradations of density found in a real femur by using hollowed-out tetrahedra, despite the fact that there are spaces within the tetrahedra, these forms are incredibly strong and rigid so they’re a very efficient way of carrying a load. Just think of the lattice-work in the legs of the Tour Eiffel.”
The developers claim that their current design is fully compatible with existing surgical technology that is used for hip replacements, which should facilitate its FDA approval and adoption by surgeons.
The new femoral stems should be implemented for the first time in a patient in three to five years.
Reference
Sajad Arabnejad et al. Fully porous 3D printed titanium femoral stem to reduce stress-shielding following total hip arthroplasty, Journal of Orthopaedic Research (2016). DOI: 10.1002/jor.23445 provided by https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/towards-better-hip-replacements-263893
Tags: osteoarthritis, surgery, hip replacement