Southampton researchers aim to improve knee replacement design
Researchers at Southampton University are aiming to improve the design of knee replacements, which are carried out on more than 35,000 arthritis patients in the UK every year.
A team led by Dr Mark Taylor, lecturer in the university's bioengineering sciences research group, is being funded by a three-year grant of almost £85,000 from the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc).
The team hope to develop new virtual test methods to assess the wear of total knee joint replacements, which will lead to improvements in implant design, and reduce the need for further surgery.
Knee replacement surgery has become an enormously successful operation which is now routinely carried out in people with severe knee osteoarthritis. However, the replacements usually wear out after 10-15 years, requiring further, less successful replacement – known as revision surgery - and better methods to assess wear are needed. This is particularly a problem in people under the age of 60, and more active patients.
“Currently, experimental methods only assess the wear of the artificial joint for a limited range of activities, such as walking on the flat, but the knee is subjected to a much larger range of movements such as going up and down stairs and getting in and out of a chair,” explained Dr Taylor.
“What we want to do is to develop simulations of wear in knee joint replacement which account for a range of activities and motion which are likely to be encountered in everyday life.”
“This will lead to improvements in implant design, which will have significant benefits for both patients, and the NHS. For the patient it will mean their joint replacement lasts longer and generally improve their quality of life. And for the health service, a reduction in revision surgery will lead to substantial financial savings in the long term.”
The Arthritis Research Campaign is the fourth biggest medical research charity in the UK, and raised more than £26m in the past 12 months from public donations. Southampton is a leading centre for arc-funded research.
