Ronald Furlong studied under Mr Rowley Bristow, Director of Orthopaedics at St Thomas' Hospital, London and qualified as a surgeon at an exceptionally early age.
During the Second World War war he rose to the rank of Brigadier, commanding Orthopaedic Units in North Africa, Egypt and Italy and this experience was invaluable to his Orthopaedic career.
In 1969 he became Director of the Orthopaedic Department at St Thomas' Hospital, where one of his responsibilities was the teaching of hip replacement surgery. His reservations about the implants on offer led him to study biomechanics. He learned German in his spare time in order to study with the world expert in Biomechanics, Professor Friedrich Pauwels of Germany, and in 1978 he was awarded the Pauwels Medal for Biomechanics, one of only five holders in the world.
In 1979 Mr Furlong designed one of the first straight stem prostheses for use with cement, a later development of this implant being The Furlong® Modular prosthesis.
In the 1980s revision surgery was becoming increasingly necessary due to prosthetic loosening through cement fragmentation. Cementless prostheses began to appear in the market place, with disappointing results, adding to revision operations. Mr Furlong felt that “to be cementless by itself was not enough”.
Using his knowledge of biomechanics he designed a prosthesis that, in the first place would be mechanically stable and which, if coated with a bioactive agent, would have the potential of achieving long-lasting physiological fixation.
Mr Furlong had knowledge of calcium Hydroxyapatite (OHAP) and his research brought him into contact with Professor Johannes Osborn who had produced a book and more than 30 papers on OHAP and its use in treating open comminuted fractures of the mandible.
Working with a German company, experts in plasma flame spraying technology, Mr Furlong and Professor Osborn succeeded in coating OHAP onto the hip prosthesis. The result was the Furlong® HAC total hip replacement, the first prosthesis coated with HA osteo-conductive coating.
The key to the success of HAC is that it is the mineral substance that gives bone its hardness. When the coated prosthesis is implanted into the femur it is held still by the “cone”. During this time the Hydroxyapatite Ceramic or “bone without the gift of life” is given life by the body fluids and within just three days begins to be covered and penetrated by the patient's own bone. Once a broken bone is united it is joined for all time and so it is with the HAC coated prosthesis. After three months the coated prosthesis and the bone are joined together like any other bone.
The first HAC coated prosthesis was implanted by Mr Furlong in September 1985 and, following its success, the Furlong Research Foundation was founded in 1988 to support further scientific research, clinical evaluation and the dissemination of knowledge.
Two key figures, both German scientists, who have worked closely with Mr Furlong and form part of the working party of the Foundation are Dr Heiko Gruner, an expert in the technology of plasma flame spraying in the medical field and responsible for the HA coatings and Dr Ralf Kettner, a specialist in Histology, who took the place of Professor Osborn when he was sadly killed in a car accident in 1991. It is Dr Kettner's histological study of explants that provides the vital proof that the HA coated implant has bonded with the patient's bone.
Throughout Mr Furlong's long working life he was supported by his wife, Eileen. He always acknowledged her as the “driving force” behind his achievements and together they made a formidable team. Their concern was always that the patient should come first and, although Mr Furlong died in 2002 and Mrs Furlong one year later, their work continues and they would be delighted to see how the Foundation has developed.