Research

I run a very successful Hip and Knee research group which forms the main part of the Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Center. We have about thirty scientists, researchers and surgeons who work or collaborate with us. I have published about 500 peer reviewed research papers.

Our hip research has had a profound influence hip replacements, particularly in understanding how they work and achieving the optimal position for the components.  Furthermore we were the first to identify the disasters that can occur after metal on metal hip replacement, which led to most of these being withdrawn.

We have an extensive program of bio-mechanical and clinical research studies related to the knee. We regularly follow up all the Oxford knees that we have implanted over the last 22 years. We our currently analysing the 20 year results of 1000 cemented replacements and the 10 year results of 1000 cementless replacements. From this we are not only able to assess how good the outcome is and who the device should be used for but also we are able to identify problems early. We then study why the problems are occurring and how they can be prevented. This had lead to a progressive improvement in the results of the Oxford knee.

We have analysed national data and been able to show that there are numerous advantages of partial knees compared to totals. This has lead to a change in policy with partial knees now being recommended in appropriate patients.