John Medley

John Medley

Contact information

Biography summary

John B. Medley is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

His research interests include wear of metal-on-metal hip implants, spinal implants, shoulder and elbow implants, tissue engineering of articular cartilage, cell traction forces and orthopaedic implant failure. In the past, he has worked on the rheology of elastohydrodynamic films, resistance spot welding and the lubrication of large spring-supported thrust bearings.

Professor Medley has been a Professor at the university for over 33 years. He has co-authored some 80 refereed papers and supervised or co-supervised some 40 graduate students. Professor Medley is co-holder of US patent 6059830 on a geometrical modification to metal-on-metal hip implants to reduce wear. He has recently been active in legal consulting for plaintiff orthopaedic implant cases. Along with several others from his research team, Professor Medley holds patent number 20120266699 on the lubricant for wear testing of joint replacements and associated materials. The invention pertains to an artificial synovial fluid composition that mimics the tribological and biochemical properties of human, osteoarthritic synovial fluid for in vitro testing of implantable materials.

Research interests

  • Tribology
  • Orthopaedic joint replacement implants
  • Biomechanics and Biotechnology
  • Influence of Lubricant Additives on Rheology of Elastohydrodynamic Films.
  • Lubrication of Large Spring-Supported Thrust Bearings
  • Wear of Metal-Metal Hip Implants

Education

  • 1982, Doctorate, Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds
  • 1979, Master's, Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo
  • 1974, Bachelor's, Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo

Selected/recent publications

  • Langohr, G Daniel G and Willing, Ryan and Medley, John B and Athwal, George S and Johnson, James A, Contact mechanics of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty during abduction: the effect of neck-shaft angle, humeral cup depth, and glenosphere diameter, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 25(4), 2016, 589 - 597
  • Langohr, G Daniel G and Willing, Ryan and Medley, John B and King, Graham JW and Johnson, James A, The effect of radial head hemiarthroplasty geometry on proximal radioulnar joint contact mechanics, The Journal of hand surgery, 2016
  • Langohr, G Daniel G and Athwal, George S and Johnson, James A and Medley, John B, Wear simulation strategies for reverse shoulder arthroplasty implants, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine, 230(5), 2016, 458 - 469
  • Medley, John B, Can physical joint simulators be used to anticipate clinical wear problems of new joint replacement implants prior to market release?, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine, 230(5), 2016, 347 - 358
  • Langohr, G Daniel G and Willing, Ryan and Medley, John B and King, Graham JW and Johnson, James A, Contact analysis of the native radiocapitellar joint compared with axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric radial head hemiarthroplasty, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 24(5), 2015, 787 - 795