Extracapsular proximal femoral fractures are becoming an increasingly common injury as both the population and average life expectancy increase. Currently sliding hip screws (SHS) are used to treat these fractures; however the surgery to implant these devices causes significant soft tissue damage. This results in long healing times which puts a large financial burden on the health service. Development of an SHS which can be implanted through a minimally invasive technique may reduce healing time for the patients as well as the cost of treating these patients. This study details the development of a new device the minimally invasive Sliding hip screw (MISHS). A finite element (FE) model was developed in order to allow both the current device to be studied and for new designs to be evaluated. Mechanical testing was carried out on the current device in order to validate the model. The results showed that the model behaved similarly to the mechanical test and therefore valid conclusions could be drawn from it. A design process was carried out to evaluate each of the proposed designs, three suitable designs were found and each of these were modelled in order to determine which one should be taken to the prototyping stage. Three prototypes of the chosen design were manufactured for mechanical testing. Both static and cyclic fatigue tests were carried out in order to evaluate the performance of the new design. The results show that the MISHS performed similarly to the SHS in testing. With further development the MISHS has the potential to significantly improve the treatment of extracapsular proximal femoral fractures.
Date of Award | 3 Oct 2016 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | - University Of Strathclyde
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Sponsors | EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) |
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