Mass-Customization of Hip-Replacement Joint Design Using Shape Grammar

Hip-replacement joints are designed to meet shape specifications for each individual patient. Because the height and shape of bones of every patient are different than the other, the shapes of hip-replacement joints need to be customized for each individual patient. Customizing for each individual patient will increase the overall cost of hip-replacement joint production and eventually the cost of whole surgery process. Mass-production is necessary to reduce the production cost for such products. A technique of mass-customization can address to both of these issues providing customization of individual design in mass format and in reasonably low production cost. In this paper we investigate the use of shape grammar to develop a common platform for mass-customization of hip-replacement joints. To capture the common shape used in regular hip replacement surgery, a set of rules is presented to define the shape grammar. The rules are then varied inside the limits and the variations of design are observed.