Brighter future in prospect for patients who need knee implants
Bioengineers at the University of Southampton are working with industry on an exciting new polymeric material that could transform knee implants.
More than 34,000 knee procedures were carried out in England and Wales in 2014. For the vast majority of patients, their operations were successful and helped them to walk again but some will experience problems with their replacement joints and may need further surgery to put matters right.
“The knee is a very difficult joint to replicate with an implant because of the range of movements required, and the replaced knee joint can be unstable,” explains Martin Browne, Professor of Applied Biomaterials. “In addition, it is challenging to select the right materials. Over the years, there have been issues with both metal and ceramic implants that could be solved using this new generation of polymers. They are inert, easier to manufacture and can support the loading that the joint has to bear.”
Martin with his PhD students Katy Rankin and Kiki Fong are working with colleagues from other Universities on the research alongside the technology company Invibio. Southampton’s part of the project involves examining how to best fix the implant into the patients’ leg bones, and verifying how well the material can cope with the harsh loading environment it will experience in the body.
Related Staff Member
Professor Martin Browne BSc, PhD, ProfGradIMMM, MIMechE, CEng
His research interests include performance characterisation of orthopaedic implants and materials via non-invasive optical, acoustic and x-ray based experimental methods, and using statistical methods to predict the behaviour of implants in the face of uncertainty due to surgical approach and patient variability.
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