Highlighted Skills
💫 Prusaslicer
💫 Python
💫 Patient diagnosis
💫 Materials research
💫 Visual Communication
Challenges Faced
⚡ Difficulty grasping concepts
The second major project I worked on was the creation of a hip implant that could be used in an osteoporosis patient. We had to address the following conditions:
My team and I were given and had to diagnose patients with their illness given a patient profile and understand how it affected the ability for a hip implant to be implemented. After finding our patient had Osteoperosis, we discussed several smaller ideas, such as a biocompatible coating to promote bone growth, holes in the femoral head to reduce friction on the implant, and nails screwed in the bone to redistribute stress. In the end, we implemented these smaller ideas to our final design, as seen to the right. Once the structure of our design was decided, we decided that CFR-PEEK coated in hydroxyapatite would address our patient's needs best.
Above are images of the progress of our physical design, starting with a more standard hip implant and gradually adding more layers of complexity to our design, as mentioned above. Materials-wise, our group tried to see if we could get a polymer-based femoral stem as a means of reducing stress shielding, which landed us on PEEK.
We identified that osteoporosis victims often experienced fractures when getting hip implants. This occurs because the implant is too rigid and most of the force is centralized. Therefore, we added components to redistribute stress more evenly- screws and a biocompatible coating. We decided upon using a strong polymer for our material to further reduce the rigidity, or “stress shielding” of our component. This was a tough step, as usually, polymers would be too weak of materials to be considered for the strength required of a hip implant. However, we managed to make it work after doing extensive research and integrating several different material components, such as the coating mentioned above. In addition to 3D modelling, we also coded a number of programs to calculate the lifespan of the implant, the width required for the implant to withstand stress, and if our material would be able to withstand repeated stress.
This project further honed my ability to focus on the problem over the solution, do research in the biomedical field, and improve my coding fluency. Most importantly, this project emphasized the importance of having a solid foundational understanding of the problem- something I didn’t realize I was missing until partway through the project. During one of the earlier weeks, I realized I was having trouble understanding the mechanical reasoning behind our design. Once I realized there was a gap in my knowledge, I went on to educate myself as to the mechanics behind the concepts of stress shielding and tensile strength, which massively helped. Upon reflection, it would be most optimal for the foundational understanding to come first, as it would have saved a lot of unnecessary hassle down the line.