Microsensor Monitors Hip-Implant Healing

A new self-powered wireless miniature sensor will help monitor the bone-healing process after hip-replacement surgery.

Researchers from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) used nanotechnology to build a device that can measure and compare the relative osseo-integration of a hip implant over time. This microsensor is permanently implanted within the joint and is powered kinetically, using the natural movement of the patient's body as its power source. When it is not being used, it stays dormant until a doctor asks it to start transmitting data. The device can detect and identify bone loss before it is visible on a radiograph, cutting down the need for x-rays to monitor bone functionality and reducing costs and exposure to radiation.

Careful monitoring of how the patient is healing will help patients recover as quickly as possible and resume normal activities with less chance of over-stressing the fracture during recovery and rehabilitation. It also allows the surgeon to more accurately decide when it is safe to send patients home from the hospital with their new implants.

"This microsensor not only reduces post-operation recovery time, it will also help reduce the wait time for patients needing artificial joint implants,” says Dr. Walied Moussa, a professor in the department of mechanical engineering. "The ability to monitor and quantify this healing process is critical to orthopedic surgeons in determining a patient's rehabilitation progress.”

The technology could not only monitor bone healing at the time of surgery but could also determine when implants are worn out and need to be replaced. It could be valuable throughout the patient's lifetime, used for observing and maintaining the health of the implant, with future applications in artificial knees, hip replacement, and other joint therapies.



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