Biomechanical evaluation of ankle tissues
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Biomechanical evaluation of ankle tissues
Mon, 28/10/2024 - 13:00 to 14:00
Location:
Speaker:
Professor Claire Brockett
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Synopsis:
The ankle joint is a beautiful thing - left undamaged, it can support up to 9 times our body weight when we run. It is much less susceptible to primary osteoarthritis than the hip or the knee. However, as one of the first joints to process contact with the ground, we struggle to accommodate and adjust to injury or damage. Up to 80% of arthritis in the ankle is post-traumatic (severe sprain or fracture), and it hits us earlier in our lifetime - the average age for presentation with ankle OA is 52, compared with 72 years old for the knee.
In this presentation, I will discuss the research we've conducted exploring the biomechanical behaviour of tissues in the ankle - from mechanically testing ankle ligaments under sprain like conditions, to exploring the tribology of ankle cartilage in health and haemophilia (a bleeding disorder that causes long-term damage in the ankle as one of the main target joints), and finally assessing the changes in bone morphology relating to arthritis. This talk will highlight some of the techniques we've used, things we've discovered, and opportunities for future research.
Biography:
Claire Brockett is a Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Sheffield. A medical engineer by background, her PhD examined the tribology of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing before she moved on to post-docs evaluating wear performance of novel materials for total knee replacement. She moved further down the limb in the last decade to focus her research interests on biomechanics, biomaterials and biotribology relating to the foot and ankle covering ankle sprains, ligament repair, total joint replacement, osteochondral defects and also has an interest in diabetic foot ulcer research. In addition to her research interests, she's a very keen advocate for public and patient engagement, having completed a discipline hopping grant that enabled her to undertake some thematic qualitative analysis (a scary thing for an engineer who likes numbers).