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WalkStrong
Overview

Signature Orthopaedics

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A key step for WSF was the development of high-quality low-cost knee and hip implants. Dr. Christie approached several large American Orthopedic manufacturing companies with his vision. None were interested. Then Dr. Christie met the CEO of Signature Orthopedics, a brilliant engineer named Declan Brazil. Declan is an Irishman who started his company in Australia and has manufacturing plants there and in Ireland. He shared Dr. Christie’s vision and their collaboration resulted in first the World Knee (WK) and later the World Hip. In addition to being high quality, meaning the implants could last decades the implants are low cost, around $500. The average cost of a standard knee implant is in the thousands of dollars. The surgery to install the implants had to be different too. Different—simple and reproducible, using fewer instruments than standard—two trays of instruments instead of 6 – 12! The World Knee fulfilled the vision of Dr. Christie and Declan Brazil. It was approved by the FDA in the US in 2019. The World Hip followed, with FDA approval in 2020. With an affordable implant and dedicated surgeons teaching local orthopedic surgeons how to successfully perform the surgery, imagine how far the $500,000+ budget of a single mission trip could stretch. 

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