Hip Resurfacing is recognized as a key milestone in healthcare and technology advancements in the Midlands

Shared in chronological order, Hip Resurfacing has been recognized as one of the ten key milestones in healthcare and technology advances from the Midlands.

In July 1997, the first operation using The Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR™) system took place. Developed by Professor Derek McMinn and Mr. Ronan Treacy, the device became the first successful modern metal-on-metal hip resurfacing system.

Ten years after the initial BHR™ procedure, the success of many Metal-on-Metal implants started to decline, leading to several products being withdrawn from the global market, and a restriction on the size and gender of patients this method can be used to treat.

The steep decline in the usage of hip resurfacing as a procedure during the 2000s spurred innovator Prof. McMinn to develop a non-metal-on-metal solution for hip resurfacing. During the British Hip Society (BHS) Legacy series podcast Prof. McMinn stated, “I wish that in 1991 I had started with a cross-linked polyethylene rather than metal-on-metal”². This was after learning of the results from a series of papers exploring the world’s first known medical application of crosslinked polyethylene ⁽³,⁴⁾.

Fig 1. An x-ray demonstrating the stark comparison of measured penetration between standard UHMWPE THA (Left) and the new Crosslinked material at 28 years (Right)⁵.

Fast forward to the present day, and Prof. McMinn along with our team at JointMedica has developed the Polymotion® Hip Resurfacing (PHR®) system. Prof. McMinn insisted we utilize Vitamin E enriched highly crosslinked polyethylene in the design. We believe the device offers patients the option of a lower-risk alternative over metal-on-metal hip resurfacing, which allows a greater range of patients of all statures, including females to be considered once more for this biomechanically superior ⁽⁵-⁷⁾, bone-preserving procedure⁸. 

Fig 2. An x-ray showing Prof. McMinn & Mr. Ronan Treacy’s latest design of Metal on Crosslinked polyethylene hip resurfacing.

In 2022 the PHR® was granted FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, which is one of only 71 orthopaedic devices that has received breakthrough designation since the inception of the program.

With our global distribution partner Exactech, we look forward to the PHR® being another of another of Prof. McMinn’s designs recognized as a “key milestone” for healthcare and technology advances.

References:

1. ITV Central West | Catch up on the latest program for the West Midlands | ITV News Central

2. https://britishhipsociety.com/podcasts/

3. Wroblewski BM, Siney PD. PROSPECTIVE CLINICAL AND JOINT SIMULATOR STUDIES OF A NEW TOTAL HIP ARTHROPLASTY USING ALUMINA CERAMIC HEADS AND CROSS-LINKED POLYETHYLENE CUPS. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1996;78-B(2):280-285. doi:10.1302/0301-620X.78B2.0780280

4. B. M. Wroblewski, et al. A 28-year clinical and radiological follow-up of alumina ceramic-on-crosslinked polyethylene total hip arthroplasty. Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:1286–9

5. The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 9(5), 23259671211003521. Return to Sport After Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty. Kyle W. Morse Et al

 6. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) published online: 26 June 2014. Does total hip arthroplasty restore native hip anatomy? Three-dimensional reconstruction analysis. Tsung-Yuan Tsai et al.

7. The Journal of Arthroplasty 29 (2014) 640–647. Sexual Activity After Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Motion Capture Study Caecilia Charbonnier, Ph.D. et al.

8. The Journal of Arthroplasty Vol. 25 No. 2 2010.  Comparison of Bone Removed During Total Hip Arthroplasty with a Resurfacing or Conventional Femoral Component a Cadaveric Study Edwin P. Su, MD Et al.