About the Invention

Nancy Paris-Seeley is a bio-medical engineer. Among the many things that she has developed are improved artificial hip and knee joints to replace the current ones on the market which are prone to infection. She is also working on a newer, better version of the diagnostic tool known as the MRI.

Clinical trials for the artificial hip and for the knee began in 1992 at the Vancouver General Hospital. Now, the hip and knee joints are used at other locations with the prospect of manufacturing "on customer demand". The joints have been in production since 1999 and have very little competition.

For patients, the joints offer a less intrusive alternative to what was available before, which was brutal by comparison. Patients with old-style artificial hips and knees often develop infections that require the removal of the infected tissue and artificial joint, followed by a long recovery period of up to three months and require that the patients be put on IV.

Nancy truly believes that medicine needs more engineering input with its analytical and qualitative approach to making things better. Since 1996 she has been the director of BCIT's Health Applied Research and Development Program. Some of the research projects currently being conducted include a patient table for a permanent magnetic MRI System and a redesigned spinal puncture needle connector.

About the Inventor

Nancy Paris-Seeley has been working in medical-device research and development for more than ten years. After completing her Undergraduate Degree at the University of British Columbia in Mechanical Engineering, she went on to work at the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre where she developed a patented and commercialized artificial hip and knee joint system. After completing a Master of Applied Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from UBC in 1995, she worked for the Western Clinical Engineering Ltd. on the development of a device to measure the outcome of shoulder surgery. Since 1996 Nancy has been the director of BCIT's Health Applied Research and Development Program.

During her career, she has conducted research into the fields of orthopedic implants, biomedical instrumentation, surgical outcome measurement tools, surgical tools, assistive devices and in-vitro diagnostic tests. She has extensive research experience in both academic, clinical and business settings.

Nancy was born in Vancouver in 1965, where she now lives with her husband and child. Her husband is a stay-at-home father, which has allowed her great latitude around her work. Her husband, along with her mother, father and sister have been very supportive of her career, as were her teachers and Mentors. She acknowledges the timely support of people who gave her jobs that turned out to be turning points in her career.

Nancy says that her work has made her "a very happy person" who is satisfied with her work environment and life in general. She is very pleased to have the opportunity to help clients move their medical devices forward, and to be involved in a process that takes an invention and innovation idea from the developmental stages, through to successful clinical trials and then to the market-place.