Josean Ruiz Janina Helwig Gabriela Espinoza Kristin Sverrisdottir Shanice Jones
Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) refers to an abnormal hip condition in neonates characterized by anomalous development of the hip joint – in which hip joint dislocation, misalignment, and mus..
Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) refers to an abnormal hip condition in neonates characterized by anomalous development of the hip joint – in which hip joint dislocation, misalignment, and musculoskeletal instability are present in newborn infants. In infants, the Pavlik Harness is the preferred standard orthopedic device used worldwide to non-surgically correct DDH in infants.We propose to use engineering fundamentals to determine the mechanics governing the operation of these devices in order to determine conclusive mechanisms of action for the device, and to devise case-specific methods to actively vector the femoral head to its proper concentric position in the acetabulum, thereby decreasing the incidence of disability due to the unsuccessful treatment of severe hip dysplasia. In order to experimentally verify the computational model of hip reduction and abduction via the Pavlik Harness in severe cases of DDH, a mechanical bench-top model of DDH dislocation will be designed, constructed, and implemented into the experiment. This bench-top design will include a readily interchangeable partition for patient-specific 3D-printed hip musculoskeletal hip structures, used to validate the patient-specific computational models obtained from computer models generated from CT and MRI scans obtained from patients used in previous research. The primary impact of this project on society will be to assist in the improvement of the success rate non-surgical interventions for patients with Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip, as well as its consequences in adulthood, as DDH is found to be responsible for 29% of primary hip replacements in people up to sixty (60) years of age.