
Design Project 2 - Hip to be Square
The hips serve a vital role in our daily lives. They are the primary support for our body weight in static and dynamic postures. The hip joint consists of a femoral head and femur that fit into a socket in the pelvis called the acetabulum. The movement of the ball in this socket enables us to walk and perform plenty of other activities. There are many patients around the globe who suffer from complications in the hip; leading to severe joint pain and the inability to walk. For some of these patients, the best possible route might be to undergo a total hip arthroplasty (THA); a procedure in which a surgeon removes the painful hip joint and replaces it with an artificial one. The artificial implant usually consists of a femoral stem and head which fit into a shell that is attached in the acetabulum. Our client, Frieda Pinto, suffered from post-polio syndrome and the condition of her hips was deteriorating. We decided to take on a different approach than typical hip implants simply because it would be impossible to use such a product on her. The objective of DP-2 was to create a custom fit implant for our assigned patient to fulfill their needs.
