Professor Clive Lee
Design engineer and co-creator of the ‘Exeter Hip’ that has transformed the lives of millions of patients
PROFESSOR CLIVE LEE, who has died aged 82, was a designer and engineer at the University of Exeter who co-designed the Exeter Hip, a revolutionary hip prosthesis whose 50th anniversary after its first implantation was celebrated last year.
Such is the proven success of this implant in millions of patients that it continues to grow in popularity, used by surgeons on all continents. The Exeter stem is the market leader in the UK, the implant of choice in nearly 40 per cent of cases in a country where nearly 100 alternatives are available.
Lee and Robin Ling, a surgeon at the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Hospital, collaborated in what proved to be a model relationship for how professionals should interact to design implants for the benefit of patients. They restricted usage of the implant to Exeter for five years so that the fewest possible patients were exposed to any unforeseen risk. Lee would attend the operating room and assist in surgery to gain better insight into the problems involved.
Lee’s hands-on training at Rolls-royce was to define the way he approached his work; he described himself as a problem solver and practical person, also believing in a strong team ethic. These qualities served him well as he worked across disciplines to develop the Exeter Hip and explain how the device functions in the body by a “taper-slip” principle of fixation.
Lee was responsible for carrying out the laboratory experiments to prove how the implant functioned, ably assisted by a superb technician, Sid Ridgeway, whom Lee always praised as an important part of the team. His work on how the material used to fix the implant (acrylic bone cement, polymethylmethacrylate) behaves in the body, now forms reference text in orthopaedic textbooks the world over.
Ling and Lee built on the work of Sir John Charnley, the father of successful hip replacement, to explain how implants retain fixation to the skeleton in the long term, and they developed instruments to further improve clinical results for patients. All leading hip-implant manufacturers now have a stem in their portfolio that functions in the way the Exeter team described.
Alan John Clive Lee was born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, on February 18 1939 to Albert Lee and Kathleen (née Marklew). He was awarded a direct-grant scholarship to attend Solihull School, where he took his A-levels a year early.
He attended the University of Nottingham, where he achieved a first-class degree in Mechanical Engineering. His five years there included an apprenticeship at the Derby works of Rolls-royce, during which time he qualified as a designer, in 1962. In his final design report he was awarded an “Excellent” assessment and was described as “a very sound apprentice”.
He worked for 18 months in the drawing office at Rolls-royce working on jet engine design before returning to the engineering department in Nottingham to undertake a PHD which he submitted in December 1965. The following August he was appointed assistant lecturer in the engineering department at Exeter University, where he spent the rest of his career; for a long time, he was head of the School of Engineering. In 2009 he and Ling were awarded honorary doctorates at Exeter and he was made a professor there in 2020.
Lee’s practical nature was reflected in his hobbies. He designed and made toys for his children and built models of several rigged ships, including one of Charles II’S Royal Yacht the Royal Caroline.
He painted in acrylic throughout his life and while on sabbatical in New Jersey developed an interest in crewel art: his embroidered creations adorn many walls at his home in Exeter.
Lee had a strong drive towards public service and was interested in provision of education outside the university setting. He was a councillor for Barton Ward on Exeter the City Council between
1975 and 1979, and a governor at Exeter College for 30 years and chairman for two. He was also on the boards of two other Exeter high schools, Priory and St James, as well as an infant school at Whipton in the city.
Lee will not only be remembered for his association with the Exeter Hip but also for the excellence and clarity of his teaching, his scientific rigour and his ability to work and inspire across teams.
Clive Lee is survived by his wife of 56 years, Pamela (née Hammond), and their daughter and son, who both graduated from Nottingham University in engineering disciplines.
Clive Lee, born February 18 1939, died November 2 2021