• · New pelvis motion tracking technology can detect if patients have highly flexible pelvises, and will benefit from more advanced surgical planning before hip replacement surgery.
• · Currently 10% of hip replacement procedures are revisions, this technology could help increase implant life-spans and reduce the need for revision surgery.
• · The device is small and could be available in Consultant’s and GP surgeries rather than going to hospital for numerous x-rays.
• · This device takes a matter of minutes to get results
• · It has been prototyped by WMG, at the University of Warwick from a design created by WMG and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust team in collaboration with the UK’s largest orthopaedic company, Corin.

A new pelvis motion tracking device developed by WMG, at the University of Warwick, can help detect flexible pelvises without numerous x-rays, to determine who will benefit from more advanced surgical planning before hip replacement surgery.

Researchers at WMG’s Institute of Digital Healthcare and Professor Richard King, of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust- and Honorary Professor at Warwick Medical School, have developed a small device that can be put at the bottom of your back to scan the movement of your pelvis prior to a hip replacement.

Patients who have pelvises that rotate large amounts during movement are at higher risk of dislocation, particularly if the replacement hip is not fitted accurately. Those patients can receive a more advanced surgical plan, but it is currently difficult to identify who requires this without a number of time consuming and expensive x-rays. The pelvic motion tracking device has been developed to allow surgeons to immediately identify patients who have high levels of pelvic rotation and can therefore receive the additional surgical planning procedure.

The pelvis motion tracking device is made from ALM materials in WMG’s Centre for Imaging, Metrology and Advanced Technologies, with funding from Corin and the WMG centre High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

Dr Mark Elliott, Assistant Professor at WMG’s Institute of Digital Healthcare at the University of Warwick said:

“This new device has been developed to allow surgeons to screen patients for a flexible pelvis in a matter of minutes, identifying those who are at increased risk of complications if it is not fitted accurately. This will hopefully reduce costs and save time by identifying those patients who require more accurate surgical procedures. The research team working on the project have created a design and algorithm that can accurately track the pelvis movements comparable to that currently measured by x-rays.”

Paul Gibbons, the managing director of Corin UK said:

“We are excited to see the outcomes of our partnership with WMG at the University of Warwick, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, and Warwick Medical School - which has created such an innovative and potentially cost saving solution for this real problem in hip surgery. Health care professionals will get their first chance to see and find out their own pelvic rotation with the new device on our stand at the British Orthopaedic Association exhibition at the ICC in Birmingham from the 25^th-28^th September. Corin believes in developing such technological insights to improve patient outcomes and improve efficiency in orthopaedics.”

ENDS

24 SEPTEMBER 2018

NOTES TO EDITORS

ABOUT WMG, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

WMG is a world leading research and education group and an academic department of the University of Warwick, established by Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in 1980 in order to reinvigorate UK manufacturing through the application of cutting edge research and effective knowledge transfer.

WMG has pioneered an international model for working with industry, commerce and public sectors and holds a unique position between academia and industry. The Group’s strength is to provide companies with the opportunity to gain a competitive edge by understanding a company’s strategy and working in partnership with them to create, through multidisciplinary research, ground-breaking products, processes and services.

The WMG centre High Value Manufacturing Catapult is one of the founding members of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. The HVM Catapult is focused on advanced manufacturing, with 7 centres across the UK, each with their own specialisms. The WMG centre HVM Catapult focuses on providing solutions for Low Carbon Mobility. We deliver value to UK manufacturing by de-risking innovation in Lightweighting; Advanced Propulsion Systems; Intelligent Vehicles; Energy Storage and Management. Working with transport sector partners in automotive, commercial, off-road (agricultural and construction), rail and marine, the WMG centre HVM is enabling and accelerating the development of new technologies, products and processes.

Every year WMG provides education and training to schoolchildren through to senior executives. There is a growing part-time undergraduate programme for apprentices, as well as full-time undergraduates. The postgraduate programmes have over 2,000 students, in the UK and through centres in China, India, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia.

 

ABOUT IDH INSTITUTE OF DIGITAL HEALTHCARE, WMG – UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

The IDH aims to improve people’s health and wellbeing through the use of innovative digital technologies.

Our objective is to improve the quality, safety, accessibility and productivity of healthcare by supporting the implementation of digital solutions for the public, patients and professionals, underpinned by rigorous multi-disciplinary research, development and evaluation. Our model of research-led innovation in healthcare entails identifying relevant theories, selecting appropriate technologies and developing new solutions where necessary. Each solution then needs rigorous evaluation for safety, effectiveness and cost implications before promotion to healthcare systems.

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Lisa Barwick, Head of Marketing and Communications at WMG, University of Warwick

Tel: 024 76 524721 or 07824 540845

email L.Barwick@warwick.ac.uk

 

OR

 

Alice Scott, Media relations manager, University of Warwick

Tel: 02476 574 255 or 07920 531 221

E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk