Heekin Orthopedic Research Institute

Director: R. David Heekin, MD, FACS

Clinical Research and Trials

Principal Investigators

R. David Heekin, MD, FACS
Gavan P. Duffy, MD

Clinical Research PA

Erin Laipply, PA-C

Institute Overview

The clinical research team maintains a computerized research database to monitor clinical outcomes and radiographic analyses of the most minimally invasive total knee and hip replacement patients in the state of Florida. We are currently involved in FDA studies evaluating the safety and effectiveness of newly designed knee and hip implants. Our team is also involved in multi-center clinical studies evaluating the performance of total knee and hip implants designed to return patients to optimal function.

Heekin Orthopedic Research Institute investigates current orthopedic surgical and clinical techniques in order to refine or develop new procedures or technology to improve outcomes for patients. By partnering with manufacturers and hospitals we can create new products to enhance the quality of life for patients with painful joints.

We believe that the research conducted at Heekin Orthopedic Research Institute provides meaningful insights to the advances of total joint replacement in our community.

Current Ongoing Projects

Total Joint Registry: We maintain a Total Joint Registry collecting and evaluating orthopedic data on over 1500 patients receiving total knee or hip arthroplasty
Does Implant Design Improve Postoperative Flexion? A Prospective, Randomized, Comparative, Multi-center Study Comparing PFC® Sigma™ RP Knee versus PFC® Sigma™ RP-F Knee Implanted in Simultaneous Bilateral Subjects- Sponsored by DePuy Orthopaedics
Midvastus vs. Medial Parapatellar Approach for Minimally Invasive Total Knee Arthroplasty
Anterior Referencing vs. Posterior Referencing in Minimally Invasive Total Knee Arthroplasty
LFIT™ Anatomic CoCr Femoral Heads with X3® Inserts — Sponsored by Stryker Orthopaedics
A Randomized, Double Blind Clinical Investigation Comparing Early Patellofemoral Function and Return to Activities of the PFC® Sigma™ RP Knee and the PFC® Sigma™ Knee Cobalt Chrome Tray