Researchers at the Medical Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) (www.amrc.co.uk) have helped an orthopaedic-products company to develop a new type of surgical screw.

Launched to develop products that incorporate the insights and experience of leading sports surgeons, Huddersfield-based Innovative Orthopaedics asked the Medical AMRC to evaluate two new designs for orthopaedic screws, for use in procedures such as reconstructing the knee’s anterior cruciate ligament.

Marcus Crossley at the Medical AMRC says: “We worked with IO to combine different aspects of its two designs and create one universal design that reduces the force needed to insert the screw, while maintaining fixation. The benefits of the new screw don’t stop there, however.

“It helps the surgeon by engaging more rapidly with the ligament and bone when it is inserted; it also reduces the fatigue experienced by the surgeon and minimises damage to the ligament.”

The Medical AMRC showed how the universal design could be used to produce a wide range of screw sizes. It worked with AMRC partner Star Micronics (www.stargb.com) to develop the program that allowed prototype screws to be produced on a sliding-head lathe.

Most of the tooling came form another partner — Sandvik Coromant (www.sandvik.coromant.com) — and the Medical AMRC helped Innovative Orthopaedics choose Sheffield Precision Medical to carry out production runs and develop the range of screws.