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The Prosthesis Revolution
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The Prosthesis Revolution

Revitan

The concept behind the Revitan hip prosthesis began seven years ago. It started because I was concerned that the prostheses currently available were not adequately reproducing the hip's normal amount of offset and so difficulties were occurring in maintaining correct leg length and hip stability. I started to research the area of hip biomechanics and after delivering several lectures on this, began working with Dr Wui Chung and the Sulzer Corporation on developing a hip prosthesis that was versatile enough to reproduce the patient's normal biomechanical situation while retaining adequate strength. We originally started working with Asian patients' hip joints but eventually expanded this to a global prosthesis. This was done because Caucasian type hips were not adequately catered for and within the Asian population there is enormous diversity with quite tall Northern Chinese and Indian patients.

The advantages of reproducing anatomy are not only to maintain correct leg length and stability. The wear rate is also significantly reduced as has been shown in two recent research papers. Muscle strength around the hip joint is also improved as muscles can act on a normal length lever arm.

The Revitan prosthesis has been undergoing laboratory testing for some time now and it is expected that clinical trials will begin in September. It will be available in cemented and cementless types.

SAL-AP

The SAL-AP total knee prosthesis is also a project that Dr. Chung and I have been involved in, in conjunction with Professors Bourne and Rorabeck from Ontario, Canada.

This is a new type of total knee prosthesis that has the capacity for tibial insert to rotate on the tibial baseplate. With the SAL-AP the insert also has the capacity for antero-posterior excursion of 5 mm. The advantage of this concept is that it allows complete conformity between the femoral component and the insert, which significantly reduces wear rates and reduces the forces that tend to loosen the tibial tray. These are two of the remaining problems we need to correct in total knee implants.

The SAL-AP also has an inventory that allows correct sizes for insertion into both Asian and Caucasian knees.

Ray Randle is an orthopaedic surgeon based at St Vincent's Hospital, Lismore. He regularly trains surgeons from Asia who come to Lismore on fellowships to learn the techniques of joint replacement. He also teaches in Asia.

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