Kern Cowell

• MEng Mechanical Engineering with Biomedical Engineering
• Analysis of explanted silicone finger implants

Rheumatoid arthritis of the hands affects 280,000 people in the UK with this number continuously rising. In serious cases the general treatment of this area is to replace the joints with a prosthesis, the most common of which are silicone prosthetics. The lifespan of these replacements joints is shorter than common hip and knee replacements, therefore research into how these joints wear and fracture is vital. This project involved developing a new method of measuring the amount of wear on a prosthesis using white light profilometry to record the change in surface of a prosthesis and therefore how much material has been lost while implanted. Also completed were the rebuilding of a finger joint simulator for use in testing mechanisms of prosthesis wear, various chemical analysis of the prostheses and studies into alternative materials for use in finger joint replacement

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Prof Tom Joyce