Research Summary
Cadaveric knee load application system
Our research develops improved surgical procedures for treating knee injury and disease with a current focus on total joint replacement primarily of the knee (TKR). More than 700,000 patients undergo TKR in the US alone each year. Unfortunately 20 – 25% of these patients have an unsatisfactory outcome due to persistent pain, instability, stiffness, and/or implant failure. These poor clinical results can be traced primarily to the conventional method for aligning the implants on the bones.
To improve clinical results, our research group pioneered a new method for aligning implants termed kinematic alignment and developed two novel surgical techniques for achieving the desired alignment. The surgical goal is to restore the alignments of the bones to the prearthritic (i.e. healthy) knee without ligament release to achieve the ultimate functional goal of restoring function to the prearthritic knee. After performing the surgery on more than 5000 patients, clinical results as indicated by subjective patient-reported outcome scores indeed are better than those of patients who have been treated with conventional alignment methods and surgical techniques. To demonstrate the efficacy of kinematic alignment, one broad goal of our research is to conduct research projects which examine all dependent variables that provide objective measures of knee joint function for both kinematic alignment and conventional alignment methods. A second broad goal is to advance the surgical tools and/or methods to more consistently achieve the surgical alignment goals. A third broad goal is to optimize implant designs so that kinematic alignment restores knee function as closely as possible to that of the prearthritic knee.
Custom tibial force sensor
Many challenging and purposeful research projects are available which include experimental projects on cadaveric knees, experimental projects on patients both during surgery and after surgery, and computer-based projects simulating TKR on 3D bone models. Some projects involve advanced applications of biomedical imaging such as radiostereometry and fluoroscopy followed by 3D model-to-2D image registration. For the aspiring graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or orthopaedic resident, this is an unique and timely opportunity to conduct research with immediate clinical impact which benefits the millions of patients who will undergo TKR in the coming years.
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Alexander Nedopil M.D. Former UC Davis Orthopaedic Surgery Resident |
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Anne K Haudenschild Ph.D. Post doc |
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Trevor Shelton M.D. Current UC Davis Orthopaedic Surgery Resident |
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Connor Delman M.D. Current UC Davis Orthopaedic Surgery Resident |
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Cal Stone M.S. PhD student in Mechanical Engineering |
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Abigail Niesen MS/PhD student in biomedical engineering |
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Alexander Simileysky MS student in Biomedical Engineering |
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Anna Garverick Undergraduate student in biomedical engineering |
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Adithya Shekhar Medical Student
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- Deva Chan
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2008.
- Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Albany, NY.
- Nils Hakansson
- PhD Dissertation in Biomedical Engineering, 2008.
- Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS.
- Conrad Smith
- PhD Dissertation in Biomedical Engineering, 2009.
- Research and Development Engineer, Stryker Endoscopy, San Jose, CA
- Michelle Roland
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2010.
- Instructor in STEM, Green Mountain High School, Lakewood, CO.
- Sue Marion
- PhD Dissertation in Biomedical Engineering, 2010.
- Biomechanical Engineer, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
- Daniel Bonny
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2013.
- Development Engineer, THINK Surgical, Fremont, CA.
- Stephanie Gu
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2014.
- Application Systems Engineer, Stryker MAKO, Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Abheetinder Brar
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2015.
- Development Engineer, THINK Surgical, Fremont, CA.
- Emily Meike
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2015.
- PhD Student in Mathematics.
- Josh Roth
- PhD Dissertation in Biomedical Engineering, 2016.
- Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
- Jeremy Riley
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2016.
- Research Engineer, Align Technologies, San Jose, CA
- Chih Ming Hseih
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2016.
- Design Assurance Engineer at Pear Therapeutics, San Francisco, CA
- Derrick Ross
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2016.
- Assistant Development Engineer, Western Cooling Efficiency Center, University of California, Davis, CA.
- Stephanie Nicolet-Petersen
- MS Thesis in Biomedical Engineering, 2018.
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Technical Services Engineer at BIOTRONIK, Portland, OR
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Societies |
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Life Fellow |
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) |
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Fellow |
Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) |
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Member |
Orthopedic Research Society (ORS) |
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Member |
International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty |
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Member |
International Radiostereometry Society |
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Past Member |
International ACL Study Group |
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Past Member |
American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) |
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Past Member |
International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) |
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Past Member |
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) |
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Past Member |
International Society for Skiing Safety (ISSS) |
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Editorial Appointments |
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Member |
Editorial Board, Journal of Biomechanics, 2009-present |
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Assoc. Editor |
Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 1998-2004 |
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Member |
Editorial Consultants Board, Journal of Biomechanics, 1993-1999 |
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Member |
Editorial Board, Cycling Science, 1989 - 1997 |
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Member |
Editorial Board, International Journal of Sport Biomechanics, 1989-1992 |
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2019 |
Coauthor on paper which received the Paolo Aglietti Award recognizing outstanding research contributing to the understanding of knee arthroplasty |
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2012
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Distinguished Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California Davis. |
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2012
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Creation of the Maury L. Hull Endowed Graduate Student Fellowship in the UC Davis College of Engineering with donation from Scott Maxwell |
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2010 |
Elected as Fellow in the Biomedical Engineering Society |
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2008 |
Bicycling Magazine Special Award for Excellence in Applied Science Research |
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2007 |
H. R. Lissner Medal from the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (highest honor of the Division for career-level achievement) |
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2005 |
Major Professor to Corey Neu, recipient of the Zuhair Munir Award for the best PhD dissertation in the College of Engineering at UC Davis |
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2003 |
Elected as Chair of the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
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2003 |
Recipient of the UC Davis Engineering Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award |
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2002 |
Major Professor to Tammy L. Haut Donahue, recipient of the Allen G. Marr Prize for the best PhD dissertation in the physical sciences at UC Davis |
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1999 |
Recipient of the Best Research Paper Award from the Clinical Investigation Facility, David Grant Medical Center |
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1998 |
Recipient of the Best Research Paper Award from the Clinical Investigation Facility, David Grant Medical Center |
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1998 |
Recipient of the West Peak Award from the off-road bicycle industry for innovations to bicycle technology |
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1997 |
Elected to the Executive Committee of the Bioengineering Division of ASME |
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1993 |
Elected as Fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
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1989 |
Recipient of the Giovanni Borelli Award from the American Society of Biomechanics (highest honor of the Society) |
2019
Lozano, R. Campanelli, V. Howell, S. M. and Hull, M. L. (2019) Kinematic alignment more closely restores the groove location and the sulcus angle of the native trochlea than mechanical alignment: implications for prosthetic design, Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, 27; 1504–1513. pdf
Shelton, T. Howell, S. M. and Hull, M. L. (2019) A total knee arthroplasty is stiffer when the intraoperative tibial force is greater than the native knee, Journal of Knee Surgery, 32(10): 1008-1014. pdf
Roth, J. Howell, S. M. and Hull, M. L. (2019) Analysis of Differences in Laxities and Neutral Positions From Native After Kinematically Aligned TKA Using Cruciate Retaining Implants, Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 37(2): 358-369. Pdf
Shelton, T. Howell, S. M. and Hull, M. L. (2019) Is there a force target that predicts early patient-reported outcomes after kinematically aligned TKA? Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 477(5): 1200-1207. pdf
Hull, M. L. Ross, D. Nicolet-Petersen, S. and Howell, S. M. (2019) Does the condylar lift-off method or the separation method better detect loss of contact between tibial and femoral implants based on analysis of single-plane radiographs of total knee arthroplasty? Journal of Biomechanics, 86: 40-47, pdf
Lozano, R. Howell, S. M. and Hull, M. L. (2019) Repeatability, reproducibilIty, and agreement of three methods to approximate the functional flexion-extension axis of the tibiofemoral joint using 3D bone models of the femur, Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 22(14): 1144-1152. pdf
For 2010-2018 publications click here
