Department of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering
Royal Hallamshire Hospital
S10 2JF
Sheffield
United Kingdom
The Department of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering has a strong interest in the application of simulation to problems in bioengineering, with particular focus on the cardiovascular system and on joints including knees and fingers. The Department is the home of the Virtual Reality in Medicine and Biology Group, an interdisciplinary team with committed representation from clinical departments including Orthopaedics, Plastic Surgery and Forensic Pathology, together with Academic Radiology and Mathematics.
The Department has a track record in the successful completion of European programmes, including 'Knees Up' (ESPRIT, Framework 4) and a demonstrator of a SIGMA (Sheffield Instrumented Glove for Manual Assessment) glove under Lot 4. It is currently engaged in a major ESPRIT programme in the simulation of coupled solid/fluid dynamic systems, 'Bloodsim', with emphasis on cardiovacular applications. A major strength of the Department is its location in a Hospital environment. The sister clinical department employs approximately forty graduate staff. The strong links with other clinical specialities are reflected in the fact that three medically-qualified staff are, or have recently been, registered for higher degrees (PhD or MD) with supervision from this Department.
Department of Orthopaedics The Orthopaedic department at the University of Sheffield is responsible for treating many patients with complex knee joint injuries. Magnetic resonance imaging of the injured joint is a great help in identifying damaged structures. However due to the complex nature of the knee joint, much function will be lost by even slight malposition of a repaired or replaced ligament. When the menisci of the knee are damaged removal of the offending part reduces their normal shock absorbing properties, increasing the risk of osteoarthritis substantially. Although much can be done to preserve this tissue many patients have large parts of their menisci removed. Reviewing our research database over the past two years shows over a quarter of our patients lost more than fifty percent of either the medial or lateral meniscus.
Contact Point: Dr. Rod Hose