The Research & Design of an Implant to Accomodate the Distal Morphology of the Shoulder is a Stevens Institute of Technology Mechanical Engineering Senior Design project and is being worked on by M.E. Group Two. This site documents the project from start to finish and contains many of the deliverables required throughout. While this site is intended to be as informative as possible, some information may not be available due to intellectual property issues concerning the development process involved.

If you'd like more specific information not found on this site, please feel free to contact us here.

The Research & Design of an Implant to Accommodate the Distal Morphology of the Shoulder is a project designed to create a humeral stem implant taking into account the distal, or "away from the body" geometry of the humerus. Taking into account this geometry is an important part of an implant designed for shoulder replacement so it may have a correct fit and withstand the complicated stresses and loads on the shoulder. Currently implants are designed to mostly fit in the humerus, but with much fitting work to be done during surgery, the risk of multiple bone fractures, and possible non-secure placement, leading to costly and painful revision surgery later on. It is for this reason that shoulder implants have not become as well accepted as hip implants with a lower count of patients choosing to undergo total should replacement.

Using Computer Tomography (CT) scans of the bones, sizing data was collected in Pro/E which was subsequently analyzed. This analysis provided the numbers to generate three sizes of stems for the implant system and directly steered the direction of the implant design. These three designs were eventually tested in the virtual realm, and prototyped in A6 steel.

The goal of Group 2 is:

"Use computer-aided design technology to gather data on the shape of the humeral canal, recognize trends in the data, and generate which incorporates the findings."

The project objectives for Group 2 are...

Collection of data from CT scans of the humerus

Statistical analysis based upon collected data

Creation of humeral stem implant models from data analysis

Performance testing on stem to ensure safety and fit