The IHDI Teams Up with UCF to Improve the Pavlik Harness
Presently there is no standard way to predict the outcome of treatment with the Pavlik Harness, other than clinical and ultrasound observations and trends obtained from experience. Further even with the most experienced of physicians, the Pavlik Harness sometimes may not have the intended effect.
Because of this, the IHDI is kicking off an in-depth study to improve the current treatment method(s) of the Pavlik Harness. This study will be a close working partnership of physicians at the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI) and Arnold Palmer Hospital, with engineers at the Computational Mechanics Laboratory (CML) at the University of Central Florida. The medical professionals will be providing necessary medical data to the CML team, who will develop a computer model to carry out the study.
The goal of this study is to develop a dynamic computer model of infant hips — developed from Computer Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning data. This will allow physicians to quantify the interacting forces in the hip in order to develop optimized, patient-specific treatment plans that are shorter in length, and that will significantly reduce the incidence of treatment failure by the harness.
