OrthoSculpt

Total hip replacement (THR) surgery is a common procedure, with over 80,000 procedures done each year in England and Wales. There are two types of implants: those that use bone cement and those that are cement free and bond directly to the bone called ‘uncemented’. JRI, the lead on this project, pioneered uncemented THR in the 80s and it has been highly successful. Following two reports by Lord Carter and Prof Briggs in 2016, the suggestion is that uncemented THR should be used less often and only in younger and more active patients – based on cost alone. OrthoSculpt looks to develop an innovative manufacturing technique that should make the cost of the two types of implants closer, which will allow more patients to have the uncemented version. This technique is based on a novel technology owned by TWI, a UK research organisation, called Surfi-Sculpt®. With Surfi-Sculpt, a porous surface can be added to an implant by ‘moving’ the metal on its surface using an electron beam. This will make small shapes like spikes and triangles that will engage with the bone and stimulate the bone cells to grow into the structures, thus eradicating the need for bone cement. Surfi-Sculpt is both fast and can be applied to individual components, so it is perfect for small batches as well as customised implants. JRI should be able to increase its sales of hip replacements by 4% by 2021 through this advance, with more patients being treated with uncemented hip replacements. We also believe that other industries will find benefit from this rapid, novel manufacturing process for surface preparation, including heat exchangers.