A team of researchers from the International Hip Dysplasia Institute returned from a two day visit to the University of Padua in Italy where they conducted anatomy research with professors from this historic institution. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 and has an extensive anatomy museum. This includes a collection of hip dysplasia dissections that were preserved following an influenza epidemic 100 years ago. This collection served as a valuable resource to IHDI investigators who used modern techniques to carefully measure, photograph, and analyze the entire collection. Four specimens were selected for high-resolution digital CT scanning so that models can be made with 3-D printing techniques.
The University of Padua is best known as the academic home of Galileo. This university is also home of the oldest permanent anatomy center in the world. The first textbook of human anatomy was written there by Professor Andreas Vesalius in 1543. Over many centuries, numerous discoveries about human anatomy have been made at the University of Padua. The team of IHDI researchers was welcomed by the current Chairman of the Department of Anatomy and colleagues who participated in this research effort.
The IHDI team was led by Charles T. Price, MD who was accompanied Ryan Ilgenfritz, MD and two PhD graduate students, Victor Huayamave and Christopher Rose, from the mechanical engineering department of the University of Central Florida. The purpose was to carefully compare different amounts of hip dysplasia ranging from mild to severe in order to determine the exact shapes of the pelvis and the hip bones along with detailed measurements of the hip joint. There have been previous descriptions of anatomical dissections of dislocated hips but none with this many hips in more than fifty years.
The IHDI research team made several observations that may help develop improved surgical treatments for hip dysplasia. These observations will be carefully compared to measurements and 3-D imaging. The results will be submitted for publication in scientific journals after the results have been fully analyzed.
