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Orthopaedic engineering is a highly active and fascinating area of research, which has the potential to directly benefit patient healthcare.

The combined strengths of the Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Centre (OOEC), NDORMS and the Department of Engineering Science (DES) offers an outstanding platform to develop and maintain high calibre research highly relevant to clinical issues.

OOEC benefits from being situated within one of the country's foremost orthopaedic teaching hospitals, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC).

OOEC combines cutting edge computational techniques with clinical data, to investigate joint mechanics and to improve medical device design. Our mission is to further the understanding of normal joint function, development of joint disease and optimise its treatment.

We are committed to a common engineering foundation as well as to advanced work in individual specialities which include most branches of Orthopaedic Engineering. Strong links are maintained with clinicians, materials scientists, computational analysts and cell biologists, providing an outstanding research environment dedicated to excellence in the field of Orthopaedic Engineering.

Facilities available on the NOC site include access to a state of the art gait laboratory, fluoroscopy and open MRI imaging, and RSA facilities. OOEC consists of a mix of University Research staff, Clinical Research Fellows and students studying for an MSc or DPhil through NDORMS or the DES (whose Oxford Mechanobiology Group has lab space at the Botnar).

We welcome approaches from surgeons and engineering students interested in completing a period of research, and those interested should contact Mrs Barbara Marks in the first instance.

OOEC is funded from a number of sources including charitable grants, industrial grants and donations from patients and companies.

Research areas

Joint Replacement

  • Hip and knee implants
  • Design, development and assessment
  • Surgical approach
  • Instrumentation

Musculoskeletal motion

Joint kinematics of the Hip and Knee.

  • Studies of normal, diseased (e.g. osteoarthritis and anterior cruciate ligament deficient) and treated joints
  • Development, mechanical analysis and clinical assessment of joint replacement
  • Improved surgical technique including inter-operative navigation procedures
  • Clinical trials of new and existing interventions

Numerical Modelling

  • Modelling of scoliosis of the spine
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Simulation of hip resurfacing
  • Modelling of an instrumented tibia
  • Analysis of new and existing implants

Assessment Methodology

  • Anatomical
  • Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis (RSA)
  • Joint kinematics
  • Mathematical modelling and simulation
  • Patient-based outcomes
  • Motion analysis

Related research themes