Overview
Sponsors include: Welcome Trust, Arthritis Rheumatism Campaign(ARC), Furlong Charitable Foundation, Guy's & St Thomas Foundation, EPSRC, Royal Society, Zimmer Ltd, Transport Research Laboratories, Tornier Inc Mathys Ltd.
A long standing aim has been to better understand what makes orthopadic implants fail and how this can be prevented. A particular focus has been the loosening of shoulder implants which has involved 5 Phd projects and led to 18 peer reviewed papers and a recent Wellcome Trust Translational Award of £1.01M; the biggest grant awarded worldwide towards improving the outcome of shoulder replacements. This work has also led to a new CT scan protocol for monitoring implant performance and as a consequence, care for all shoulder replacement patients has changed at two major hospitals in London and Paris presumably with many more to follow.
Other interests are related to bone properties, particularly of abnormal bone such as osteoporosis and the effect of drugs. Abnormal bone is often at the root of bone fracture and loosening of implants as the abnormal bone changes the conditions around the implant. This area of work contributed to the £10.9M grant awarded to the College by EPSRC/Welcome Trust to establish the Centre for Medical Engineering Solutions in Osteoarthritis.
Dr Hansen also has an interest further the understanding of the unusual maechanical behaviour of many biological materials such as cartilage or other soft tissues. Such work led to exploration of the use of polymer patches to reinforce and delivery of regenerative cells to repair weak sections of the heart in patients with a heart condition. Such work led to a large EU funded collaborative work involving 15 partners from 8 countries.