Stephen B. Murphy, MD

Stephen B. Murphy MD is a surgeon, inventor and medical device developer who specializes in hip and knee reconstruction. Dr. Murphy is the inventor on over 45 patents world-wide, all in the fields of hip surgery technique, hip implant design, and surgical precision technology. He is known most recently for having invented and developed the Superior Approach for Hip Replacement and the HipXpert System.

The superior approach for total hip arthropiasty is a technique aimed to maximally preserve the soft tissue integrity surrounding the hip joint (click to watch animation of the technique). The technique and its derivatives are now used in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa. The HipXpert system, a system that incorporates web-based patient-specific hip surgery planning with reusable and universally adjustable smart mechanical navigation tools that are also tuned on a patient-specific basis the (click to watch animation of the system). The HipXpert system likely represents the first web-based rapid turnaround medical intervention system; first used commercially in 20116. The system is currently approved in the US, EU, Canada, and Australia.

Dr. Murphy’s more recent honors include the Maurice E. Muller Award for Excellence in Computer Assisted Orthopedic Surgery and as senior author of a team receiving The John Charnley Award from the Hip Society, an award named after Sir John Charnley, the inventor of total hip replacement.

Education and Training:

Dr. Murphy received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, majoring in Engineering Sciences. He received his MD from the Weill Cornell Medical College. He received his general surgery training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and did two research fellowships in orthopedic biomechanics (implant design) before residency. He completed his orthopedic residency training at the Combined Harvard Orthopedic Residency program following which he was Chief Resident in Orthopedic Surgery at Children’s Hospital in Boston (with John E. Hall, MD and Michael B. Millis, MD) and then a Maurice Muller Fellow in Reconstructive Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital (with Hugh P. Chandler, MD), the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in Switzerland under the direction of Reinhold Ganz and Maurice E. Muller.

Innovation and invention:

As a medical student, Dr. Murphy became a leader in the development of three-dimensional orthopedic imaging and its clinical applications. In collaboration with Peter Kijewski PhD and Peter Walker PhD, he created among the first three-dimensional virtual and physical models of the hip and knee joints in 1982 and designed the first custom artificial hip implants from patient-specific 3D modelling in 1984. Beginning the following year during surgery internship, Dr. Murphy assisted visiting surgeon Paul Tessier, MD and the maxillofacial team at Children’s Hospital in Boston to provide 3D computer and physical modelling and planning of correction for maxillofacial deformities. Later during orthopedic residency, Dr. Murphy began developing software for the geometric analysis and correction of dysplastic hips, work that led to granting of the Frank Stinchfield Award from the Hip Society in 19902. Following clinical training,

Dr. Murphy entered the field of computer assisted orthopedic surgery by developing software and technology for planning and tracking correction of hip dysplasia during periacetabular osteotomy surgery. This work, developed in collaboration with John E. Hipp PhD, was first applied clinically in 1995. He then applied computer assisted surgical technology to hip replacement in 1997 by reprogramming tools commercially developed for spine surgery and then began navigating total hip arthroplasty routinely beginning in 2001. This experience with computer-assisted total hip arthroplasty led to the invention and development of the HipXpert System. Dr. Murphy has also designed many implants for total hip arthroplasty during his entire career which have been used clinically worldwide.

International Leadership:

Dr. Murphy has served as President of the International Society for Computer Assisted Orthopedic Surgery and as President of the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty. He is a member of a number of professional societies including the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, the Hip Society, the International Society for Computer Assisted Orthopedic Surgery and the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and a Consultant Reviewer for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research, The Journal of Arthroplasty, and several other peer-reviewed medical journals.

Related Websites:

stephenmurphy.org

bostonhip.org

hipxpert.com

Contact:

617-232-3040
Website