This seminar discussed the design, use, and implementation of medical devices for artificial hip replacements in humans. Hip replacement surgeries are commonly done in Canada every year, with more than 62,000 hip replacements done in 2018–2019. In the last five years, this number has increased by 20.1%, and is expected to increase in the future as the general population of Canada continues to age. Revision surgeries are also common, as issues such as infection, may cause the original hip replacement to become unsuccessful.
There are several types of hip replacements where medical devices replace the original hip joint. Complete hip replacements involve the removal and replacement of the entire hip joint, including the acetabulum and the femoral head, while a partial hip replacement usually only involves the replacement of the femoral head. Hip replacements are often recommended as treatments for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, osteonecrosis, and childhood hip disease. These conditions are all likely causes of chronic hip pain.
Medical devices in the form of hip prosthetics and other devices, such as hip spacers, are the main devices used in the various types of hip replacement surgery. Although hip prostheses have been in use since 1940, new devices that have longer, more useful lives are being approved every year by the United States Food & Drug Administration ("FDA"), European Medical Device Regulation, and Health Canada. For example, according to the FDA’s 510(k) premarket notification database, more than twenty hip protheses were given approval in the 2020 calendar year.
The current gold standard in terms of long-term results for the total hip arthroplasty procedure (full hip replacement) was introduced by Sir John Charnley in 1962. This advance was the first time that a low friction torque arthroplasty was used. Current state of the art hip replacement technologies aim for minimally invasive replacements done with precise surgical tools and small incisions, all of which decrease recovery time. Another area being explored in the current state of the art is robotic-assisted computer-guided hip replacements. Muscle preservation and eliminating the cutting of tendons around the surgery area is another important element of the current state of the art of hip replacement surgery.