The Orthopaedic Innovation Centre (OIC) performs ground-breaking research which also helps medical students gain experience through summer student positions, focusing their time on research-based projects.
Dr. Colin Burnell, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Concordia Joint Research Group (CJRG), initiated the study Intraoperative fracture risk – traditional versus compaction broaching methods for hip stem implantation to examine if there was a difference in bone strain and therefore risk of fracture between two methods of hip stem insertion: Traditional – which removes cancellous (spongy)bone, and Compaction – which conserves bone.
With funding provided by the University of Manitoba’s Department of Surgery and Alexander Gibson research grants, the project is a 2 year investigation being managed by Trevor Gascoyne, Manager of Clinical Research Services and Biomedical Engineering, OIC.
A first-year medical student at the University of Manitoba, Kevin Stockwell, worked with engineers and surgeons at the OIC for the past 3 months on Phase 1 of the project which looks at strains experienced by the femur (thigh bone) during hip replacement surgery.
To examine this, the OIC Cadaver Lab / Surgical Training Centre was used to perform work on four pairs of cadaveric femurs. The femurs were obtained and fitted with a series of strain gauges to measure the strain around the upper portion of the bone. Instruments used for implantation of the hip replacement components were fitted with force transducers to measure the force of each hammer strike the surgeon makes during the hip replacement procedure. Data acquisition software allowed Kevin and Dr. Burnell to capture the force of each hammer strike as well as the strain experienced by each bone during all 8 surgical procedures.
Presently, all of this force and strain data has been collected and verified. The second phase of the project is analysis of the data and finite element modeling of the surgical procedure which will be validated against the physical findings. Phase 2 will be completed in the summer of 2015 and results of this work are expected to be published in a medical journal by 2016.
To talk to us about this or other innovations happening at OIC contact us.
