Biomedical Engineering Division
The event saw academics, clinicians, industrial partners and patients come together for a series of discussions on advancing technology for improved treatment of the knee pain and disease. Twenty three free paper authors and eleven invited keynote speakers, including clinicians and academics presented at the event with lively discussion following each session.
The event opened with an excellent talk by brothers Captain Dave Henson and Will Henson who are actively innovating to improve prosthetics for amputees. Mr Keith Tucker of Beyond Compliance provided an interesting insight into the past of the joint replacement implants and new regulatory changes to ensure responsible innovation. Professor Ruth Wilcox outlined the benefits and recent advances in modelling of knee soft-tissues and implants incorporating variability and stratifying the population of candidate patients. Professor Richie Gill delivered a thought-provoking talk detailing a virtual clinical trial of additive manufactured high tibial osteotomy plates. Professor Justin Cobb provided a compelling perspective on joint sparing knee arthroplasty, discussing the benefits and challenges of uni- and bi-compartmental knee arthroplasty, leading to stimulating debate.
The second day started with a pre-conference breakfast meeting organised by the event sponsors, DePuy Synthes. The meeting provided a forum for members of academia, industry and the Institution to discuss engineering outreach and ways to engage school pupils with engineering technology to overcome challenges in healthcare.
Dr Alex Dickinson’s keynote address on the use of 3D imaging to determine the effects of medical devices on bone and soft tissue strains opened the second day of the conference programme. Professor Nick Bishop presented innovative methods to measure and understand the mechanics of press-fit of implant fixation, providing a comprehensive overview of implant anchorage in bone. Lastly, Dr Richard Cook discussed lessons from the implant retrieval analysis work in University of Southampton – clearly communicating the potential for impact as well as the challenges in performing thorough retrieval analyses.
A session was dedicated to the OATECH network with Professor Cathy Holt, Professor Philip Rowe and Professor Deborah Mason highlighting nationwide efforts and opportunities to link centres focused on osteoarthritis research.
It was encouraging to see so many excellent presentations from early career researchers. Particularly of note were talks from Miss Amy Garner, a clinical fellow from Imperial College London, Andre Attard, an engineering PhD student from Strathclyde University, and Shannen Chacko Rajan, an engineering PhD student from Newcastle University, all of whom delivered talks which attracted high levels of positive feedback from delegates post-event.
The event was co-chaired by Dr Richard van Arkel from Imperial College London, Dr Alex Dickinson from University of Southampton and Dr Mahsa Avadi from DePuy Synthes, all of whom are board members of the IMechE Biomedical Engineering Division.