Engineering Commons^™

A Biomechanical Investigation Into The Effect Of Experimental Design On Wrist Biomechanics And Contact Mechanics, Clare E. Padmore

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The wrist is one of the most commonly injured joints, and injury can have serious sequelae if pathological healing ensues. Strides have been made to understand normal and pathological wrist biomechanics using experimental approaches, which has contributed to improved patient care. The present work advances our understanding of the influence of experimental techniques and joint motion measurement techniques on in-vitro wrist biomechanical cadaveric studies, and applies the knowledge learned to a common clinical entity of scapholunate insufficiency.

First, the relative contributions of the carpal rows to wrist motion were assessed, in addition to the identification of limitations of current biomechanical …

Lower Stiffness Orthopaedic Implants For Hemiarthroplasty, Carolyn Berkmortel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the main drawbacks of hemiarthroplasty is that it involves the articulation of a foreign material against the native cartilage, and hence the native cartilage experiences accelerated wear. It is hypothesized that lowering the stiffness of hemiarthroplasty implants will decrease contact pressure and increase contact area, thus decrease wear. Lowering the stiffness was done using finite element analysis to lower the stiffness of the implant materials, and then to change the internal structure of the implants to increase their compliance. Structural changes produced no noticeable or favourable results, whereas material produced improved results for stiffnesses below a Young’s modulus …