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Rohan Mangesh Bhalekar

Hip simulator wear testing of the taper-trunnion junction and bearing surfaces of modular hip prostheses.

Email: r.m.bhalekar2@ncl.ac.uk

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohanbhalekar

Project supervisors

Project description

Total hip replacement (THR), described as “The Operation of the Century”, is a common orthopaedic surgery. Despite many surgical advantages, explant studies of modular THRs show that material loss and debris production is not only restricted to bearing surfaces. It also arises from the taper-trunnion junction with a potential to reduce the longevity of the prosthesis.

My research focus has been wear and material loss at the taper-trunnion junction in artificial hip joints. This is an area of great contemporary debate within orthopaedics. I was the first person to use a new hip joint simulator in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University.

I have accomplished two hip simulator tests, each to 5 million cycles. The first tested the latest 4th generation ceramic-on-ceramic hip prostheses. It measured wear at both the bearing surfaces and at the taper-trunnion junction.

The second tested metal-on-cross-linked polyethylene hip prostheses. Again, the test had a focus on wear at the bearing surfaces and at the taper-trunnion junction.

These in-vitro studies show, for the first time, the necessity of measuring taper-trunnion junction wear in pre-clinical testing to fully understand the mechanisms of material loss. They have highlighted the need to add extra testing to the current ISO14242-1.

Publications

Interests

Bioengineering, biomaterials, biotribology, joint replacement, medical devices, retrieval analysis

Qualifications

  • MSc Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering (University College London, UK)
  • Bachelor of Engineering – Biomedical (University of Mumbai, India)