E-Mail IMAGE: Rice University engineers have designed a computational model that will ultimately serve as the engine to predict how long a hip implant could last for a specific patient. It incorporates... view more Credit: Wikipedia HOUSTON - (Jan. 11, 2021) - Rice University engineers hope to make life better for those with replacement joints by modeling how artificial hips are likely to rub them the wrong way. The computational study by the Brown School of Engineering lab of mechanical engineer Fred Higgs simulates and tracks how hips evolve, uniquely incorporating fluid dynamics and roughness of the joint surfaces as well as factors clinicians typically use to predict how well implants will stand up over their expected 15-year lifetime.