Stellenbosch University lecturer’s customised knee implants could help millions
A lecturer at Stellenbosch University has found a way to create knee implants that fit patients with arthritis like a glove. His work could end up helping millions of patients over the next decade. "People whose knees have been affected by osteoarthritis‚ also known as the ‘wear and tear’ arthritis‚ often have to get knee implants to repair the damage. But if a knee implant does not fit the specific individual‚ it could lead to soft tissue damage‚ collapsing of the underlying bone‚ loosening of the implant and an increased likelihood of joint pain after an operation‚" the university said on Thursday. Dr Johan van der Merwe‚ a lecturer in the department of mechanical and mechatronic engineering at Stellenbosch‚ said: "One possible solution is to design implants that are patient-specific‚ anatomically accurate‚ reproduce normal knee motion and are ultimately repeatable." Van der Merwe‚ who is also a member of the Biomedical Engineering Research Group in the department‚ developed a sem...
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