Understanding the Internal Forces on Post Operation Implants Using the Hip Joint Motion Simulator

In the United States, 18 of every 100 patients that receive hip replacement surgery need a secondary procedure due to implant wear or total hip displacement. This number remains high due to the lack of a good way for doctors to fully understand what is happening to their patient's prosthetics during their lives after surgery. Our machine will fill this need as a more reliable source of data collection for the forces acting on a hip implant after surgery. The hip joint simulator will apply cyclical loading and motion profiles that can mimic the actions of walking, jogging, and running providing a clear picture of the effects of everyday life on a prosthetic. The team's focus will be on developing and testing the simulation machine while the sponsor of the project will take the final prototype and implement an energy harvesting device of his own design into the loading apparatus of the simulator. This device will be used to understand the relationship between the loading applied by the machine and the electrical output the loading can produce. The team expects to gather the loading and motion data for multiple gait cycles and produce graphs depicting the forces and moments acting on an actual hip implant. Supplying a more complete understanding of the day-to-day life of a hip replacement patient post-op. This data will be used to prove the design's use and functionality while also providing greater insight into the biomechanical understanding of the hip joint.