Data Fusion in the Metrology of Bio Implants
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Huddersfield
Department Name: Sch of Computing and Engineering
Abstract
Measurement of material wear (Ultra high Molecular Weight Polyethylene and Cobalt alloys) on bio implants implants has been a subject that has widely been studied at the University of Huddersfield and several industrial links with leading manufacturers have been formed as a result. This PhD project seeks to develop methods of fusing precision co-ordinate metrology data with nano precision surface metrology in order to map complete material wear surfaces surfaces of orthopaedic implants. This is of particular importance for assessing implant material wear volumes following testing or after in vivo use. The project will use dimensional measurement techniques and microscopy to measure the surface material loss in identified high wear zones.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| L Blunt (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Joe Pashley (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N50967X/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 1972033 | Studentship | EP/N50967X/1 | 01/10/2017 | 31/03/2021 | Joe Pashley |
| Description | The use of orthopaedic implants is increasing and patients are becoming younger, requiring implants to also last longer. Currently, implants wear over time, leading to revision surgery. It is an aim for manufacturers to reduce wear rates of implants to improve their longevity. Wear characterisation via lab testing or explant measurement is the most common and effective tool in diagnosing wear rates, failure mechanisms and determining long term performance of implants. This project aims to facilitate combination of two measurement techniques through creation of an advanced fixturing system allowing for a detailed wear characterisation of hip implant bearing surfaces. This improves the detail of wear characterisation, particularly at a surface scale level, by combining CMM and targeted optical surface measurement data relatively inexpensively. This method can be useful for both experimental studies and quality control applications. By improving coregistration of data-sets through fixturing, this allows for surface measurements to be taken precisely on hip implant components in regards to a CMM generated wear map. Precise surface measurements can show a new level of detail on the tribological mechanisms existing at the hip implant bearing junction. In particular the change in surface finish throughout wear scars, allowing for new implant designs to be analysed in more detail. This project is still ongoing and is planned to be finished approximately March 2021, a placement with DePuy Synthes is currently taking place which will help develop the previously mentioned method in more detail and improve with advice from an industry expert. |
| Exploitation Route | The method developed during this project can be used by the research hub at the University of Huddersfield for future medical device metrology projects, allowing for more detailed wear analysis of hip implants. Potentially the hardware and software developed from this project can be further developed into a commercial product which can be sold to medical device companies and medical device research institutes. |
| Sectors | Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |