Geoffrey Newton - Telegraph Until the early 1970s prosthetic knee joints were simple hinges, fastened into place with bolts through the thigh bone and shin bone. Their main disadvantage was that they allowed movement in only one direction; with any lateral pressure, they tended to become loose. Working in Manchester hospitals, Newton developed a new prosthesis called the "Manchester Knee" - a "multi-axial" replacement joint that allowed unrestrained bending and twisting movements and involved a less invasive surgical procedure. The knee depended for its operation and stability on the patient's own knee ligaments, which remained intact - a great advance. Though the Manchester Knee has been superseded, it remains an important stepping stone in the development of modern knee replacement techniques. Later, working in Derby, Newton developed a new "halo" and harness for treating patients with neck fractures which enabled them to come off traction and walk about, and introduced into Derby hospitals new braces for leg fractures which allowed the knees and ankles to move while healing. He also introduced alternatives to plaster which were stronger and more water resistant. Geoffrey Newton was born on July 17 1930 in Salford, Greater Manchester, one of three children of a sheet metal worker and his wife. From Stockport School, he won a state scholarship to read Medicine at Manchester University, where he met his future wife, Pat, a fellow medical student who would become a GP. They married in 1955. He also became a keen sailor, helping to found the university's Yacht Club and the Association of Northern Universities Sailing Clubs. After qualifying, Newton did three years" National Service in the Army, serving in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, before driving overland back to Britain. In 1960 he spent a year in Antarctica with the Australian Antarctic National Research Expedition as a medical officer and photographer, based at Mawson. Mount Newton, a peak in the Prince Charles Mountains mapped by the expedition, is named after him. Returning to Britain, Newton spent several years as a general surgeon in Manchester hospitals before deciding to specialise in orthopaedics. After six months in Oswestry, he returned to Manchester for a time before taking a position as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, Derbyshire Children's Hospital and Bretby Hospital. Newton trained surgeons from all over the world, many of whom became leaders in their professions, and raised much money for the Royal Infirmary, for research, and for clean air systems in Bretby Hospital (which he fought, ultimately unsuccessfully, to keep open). Outside his profession he applied his surgeon's skills to woodwork and converted an old school at Bretby into a wonderful home. After his retirement in 1992 he taught himself metalwork and built a steam launch with which he won the amateur boat building competition at Greenwich. He joined the Steam Boat Association of Great Britain and sailed with his wife throughout England and in France, Switzerland and Ireland. Two years ago Newton was diagnosed with the lung disease mesothelioma - thought to have been caused almost 40 years ago when he removed a boiler packed with white asbestos. Geoffrey Newton is survived by his wife and a daughter. Geoffrey Newton, born July 17 1930, died May 16 2012