The Joint Replacement Institute at St. Vincent Medical Center and the J. Vernon Luck, Sr., M.D. Orthopaedic Research Center at Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital are internationally recognized as leading clinical and basic science research centers in the field of joint replacement. The staff are engaged in various research studies including:
Development and testing of new bearing materials for extending the lifespan of joint replacements.
* Modification of the design of artificial joints, and of the surgical techniques used to implant them, in order to improve the fixation to the skeleton and, therefore, the long-term clinical performance.
* Evaluation of the clinical performance of joint replacements, for example, using survivorship analysis, to identify the best materials and designs.
* Analysis of retrieved implants, including studying the morphology of the wear particles and the histology of the surrounding tissues, to clarify the mechanisms of wear-induced clinical problems.