New Hip Replacement Design Could Reduce Complications

 Posted on June 30, 2013 in Defective Medical Devices

More often now than ever before, high school students are graduating and entering into colleges and universities without any idea of what they would like to study or what they want to do with the rest of their lives. As time seeds out those who are not meant for college-life, there are very few students left in comparison when it is time to enter graduate school .

Not only did Andrew Murtha make it through undergraduate school and continue on for a graduate degree from Saint Louis University, but he has also already become the winner of the 48th annual Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Student Research Forum at SLU before completing his second year of medical school.

Murtha plans to specialize in orthopedic medicine and was given an opportunity at SLU to develop an artificial hip that should reduce complications after operations, which won him the prestigious award.

Riya Anandwala from SLU reported on the project, writing that in his research, Murtha discovered “that using a thinner plastic liner to accommodate larger femoral head, which replaces the highest part of the bone in the thigh, did not increase the risk of fracturing the liner.” That research was the answer for previous issues that arose after surgery due to larger femoral heads.

The work done by Murtha and his team addressed two major issues that often arise after hip replacement surgery: degeneration of bone tissue and hip dislocation. Murtha created a new design consisting of larger femoral heads and wear-resistant plastic.

At the 54th Annual National Student Research Forum in Galveston, Tex., Murtha had the chance to present his work in April.

There is new technology being developed all the time, however, if you are the victim of older, defective medical equipment, contact a defective medical device attorney today. Newland & Newland attorneys will fight for you in the courtroom in Arlington Heights, Libertyville, Crystal Lake, Chicago, Waukegan and Itasca, Ill.