A History of the World in Objects

The Thackray Museum is delighted to announce its participation in A History of the World, a partnership between the BBC and the British Museum focusing on world history, through objects. Our contribution is the artificial hip replacement, which is now on public display.
This metal artificial hip replacement was made at Thackray’s factory in Beeston between 1968 and 1975. It has an interesting history attached to it; the association between the company founded by Chas. F. Thackray and John (later Professor Sir John) Charnley, established in 1947 and which lasted until his death in 1982, is one of the great partnerships between medicine and commerce. Charnley was a highly skilled orthopaedic surgeon and his total hip replacement procedure, developed in the 1960s, has benefited hundreds of thousands of patients. Surgeons around the world still continue his work. This object is known as a 'femoral component prosthesis' and is made of stainless steel. It was fitted into the top of the thigh-bone and the ball-joint engaged in a hollow dome (an 'acetabular cup') in the pelvis, enabling the leg to articulate. This type is the 'Mark 1 Standard', etched on the stem as 'MK 1S' and is one of three initial designs devised by Charnley. The ball-joint's diameter is 7/8" (22mm), favoured by Charnley as giving few problems resulting from wear through friction.

For more information or to view other items in A History of the World, visit www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld