Although the word tribology might initially give an impression that we are talking about a political person participating in a meeting on sociological aspects of tribes in India, one would be surprised to know that tribology has nothing to do with tribes. Tribology is the science of the study of material surfaces interacting with each other. In other words, it is a very special aspect of material science. This science has extremely critical role to play in joint replacement surgery. The artificial joints are components made of different materials which are in constant friction with each other once implanted in the human body.
The average human being puts any of his major joints through 1 million cycles of movements every year. If a joint is put in a person who subsequently lives for, say 30 years, then the joint surfaces would have gone through 30 million cycles of wear and tear. In other words, a good joint replacement surgeon should also be a well enlightened material science expert. Dr Mody has lectured across the world on the importance and implications of different materials used in the design and development of the artificial joints.
Multinational companies have often engaged his services during the design and development of new generation of artificial joints. Dr. Mody was recently invited at a scientific seminar on tribology hosted by Smith & Nephew in Delhi.