The project partners develop a sleeve, which is meant to act as a cushion in the hip joint. In this interview with MEDICA-tradefair.com, Dr. Josef Jansen details the advantages of this sleeve, talks about the role of the right synthetic material and how this intervention differs from a prosthetic implant.
Dr. Jansen, what is the objective of the "MioHIP" project?
Dr. Josef Jansen: Our goal is to delay or ultimately maybe even entirely avoid endoprosthesis implantation in patients suffering from hip osteoarthritis. Based on the current state of orthopedic medicine, this pertains to patients with osteoarthritis in the moderate or late stage. We want to achieve this goal by developing a sleeve that can be slipped over the femoral head to balance the abraded, damaged cartilage.
This sleeve is intended to enable an intervention where all structures of the natural hip joint are preserved. In the case of an endoprosthesis implantation, bones and cartilage are recessed and the ligaments that connect the hip socket with the ball are severed. This would benefit patients because quite often not all parts of the joint are damaged by arthritis and need replacement. Severe pain is the actual reason for the replacement surgery. This is a completely new approach, which has yet to be developed and tested.
How did you come up with this idea?
Jansen: We are also developing a similar product intended for use in the knee joint. In this case, it is an elastic cushion designed to delay the prosthesis implant and quickly restore patient mobility again and eliminate pain.
This topic subsequently gave way to the idea of a femoral head sleeve. This is similar to the idea of a synthetic cup inlay, which in the case of an artificial hip joint is made of high molecular weight polyethylene. However, polyethylene is very stiff. Polyurethane is better suited for this type of sleeve.