A paper written by PhD candidate Vivek Perumal, as lead author, has been judged the best research paper published by an enrolled Anatomy postgraduate student in 2017. The paper, published in Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, looks at the fovea capitis on the head of the femur, an attachment site of the ligament of the head of femur (LHF/ligamentum teres of the hip).
There is very little published information on the anatomy of the fovea capitis femoris. Vivek's research investigates the morphology of the fovea capitis on dry bones in an attempt to answer some of the debate around the functional significance of the LHF.
The paper analysed the gross anatomy of the fovea capitis and its clinical relevance to orthopaedic surgeries. It also related the shape of the fovea in different populations to their traditional lifestyle, adding value to anthropological findings, thus exploring concepts applicable to various disciplines.
This study also received a best poster prize for Vivek at the Asia Pacific International Congress of Anatomists conference in Singapore in 2016. This is the second paper published from his PhD research.
Vivek is undertaking his PhD part-time. He also teaches clinical anatomy to medical students and is developing new learning resources in anatomy.
Vivek is co-supervised by Dr Stephanie Woodley and Professor Helen Nicholson.
(Perumal, V., Woodley, S.J. & Nicholson, H.D. (2017) The morphology and morphometry of the fovea capitis femoris. Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy. 39 (7) 791-798)