A team of experts at Cambridge, UK, is developing a technological innovation poised to revolutionise hip replacement surgery.
The pioneering technology aims to enhance the precision of hip surgery and improve long-term outcomes, potentially benefiting patients and healthcare systems like the NHS.
The team recently received a £1.4 million Invention for Innovation (i4i) Product Development Award from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
This funding will support the advancement of their ‘smart’ joint trial liner, a device designed to measure forces in real-time during surgery. This device provides surgeons with live data to improve implant positioning.
The novel technology utilises sensors embedded in the trial liner to assess and balance soft tissues around the hip joint.
By offering precise measurements, surgeons can better determine the ideal position for the implant, improving outcomes and reducing the need for revision surgeries.
The team said: ‘There are currently no technologies that offer such real-time readings during hip replacement surgery’, emphasising that surgeons today rely on their sense of ‘feel’ and anatomical landmarks to balance the joint.
Vikas Khanduja, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and, clinical lead of the Young Adult Hip Service and Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge (UoC), is leading the project.
Mr Khanduja is collaborating with Professor Sohini Kar-Narayan, a UoC Professor of Device Materials, and Dr Jehangir Cama, a translational scientist focused on commercialisation.
Professor Paul White, a consultant clinical scientist and head of clinical engineering at Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust, also contributed.
Mr Khanduja, awarded the prestigious Hunterian Professor Award in 2021, expressed gratitude for the NIHR grant.
‘We are incredibly grateful for this funding, which will allow us to achieve key milestones and move the technology from the lab into the clinic,’ he said.
The project has strong institutional support, including from the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, which backs the team’s work through its Medical Device theme.
Cambridge Enterprise filed a patent protecting the team’s intellectual property, and ArtioSense Limited has been established as the commercial vehicle for the technology’s eventual rollout.
This development comes as hip replacement surgeries continue to rise globally, with over two million procedures performed annually.
With a growing demographic of younger, more active patients, the need for longer-lasting and better-performing implants is more pressing than ever.
Professor Miles Parkes, Director of the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, praised the project, highlighting its potential to address a significant clinical need. Dr Silvana Cossins, senior programme manager of the NIHR i4i, also expressed her enthusiasm for the project, which is part of a more significant effort to fund medical device innovations to improve healthcare outcomes.
The team is now working to finalise the design and comply with regulatory standards before moving toward clinical testing.
Photo - From left to right: Dr Alex Samoshkin, Professor Sohini Kar-Narayan, Affiliate Associate Professor Vikas Khanduja and Dr Jehangir Cama
