Warwick University and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) have licensed a system they say is the first to measure patients accurately for hip replacements. KingMark, developed by orthopaedic surgeon Richard King, MBBS, FRCS, in collaboration with Damian Griffin, MPhil, FRCS, professor of trauma and orthopaedic surgery at the university’s medical school, is a non-intrusive, reliable method to calculate radiographic hip magnification. More than 55,000 hip replacement operations are performed each year in the U.K. alone, and current estimates suggest replacement hip size is correct in only 30% of cases.
The invention includes a simple kit for measurement. A pad with an incorporated measurement system is placed face down. The patient lies with his or her hips on the pad, and a string of five linked precision balls is placed on the patient’s abdomen. The anterior and posterior ball measurements from the radiograph are entered and calculated, generating an accurate value for magnification. “Our radiographers find [the system] easy to use, and I can be confident that the measurements I make on scaled radiographs are correct,” Griffin says. KingMark is less intrusive for patients than current methods of measurement, he adds. The invention may have potential for spinal work and trauma implants as well as other joint replacement operations and surgeries with magnification issues. A specialty orthopaedics company, Columbia, MD-based Voyant Health, inked the license to manufacture and distribute KingMark.
Source: Science Business