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Acoustic evaluation of implant stability
Orthopaedic devices that are implanted without a fixation medium require sufficient primary stability to achieve long term fixation. While surgeons can currently only rely on experience, a new acoustic technique promises a quantitative measure of intra-operative primary stability.
Background: Orthopaedic devices that are implanted without a fixation medium (i.e. bone cement) require an inherent primary stability for the long term fixation required to continually function in their biomechanical environment. During surgery, it can be challenging to determine if an implant has sufficient primary stability, as currently, a surgeon can only rely on their experience and qualitative data. The benefits of a device that could provide quantitative data useful for the assessment of primary stability intraoperatively are therefore clear.
The ETH Zurich is developing a bone stiffness measurement device (BSMD) that has shown potential to be used for this type of application. The BSMD functions by emitting an acoustic signal that interacts with its environment (e.g. implant and bone) with the hypothesis that responses to the signal will differ between systems with loose and fixed implants. In previous work in this area, the BSMD has shown capability in distinguishing between the complex signal responses from stable and loose implants under certain conditions (i.e. with a small shoulder implant in “artificial” bone). In order to further develop the BSMD tool and fixation evaluation methodology, many possible avenues of further study are possible. Two examples of these are:
• Application of the BSMD method to study the stability of another implant (knee, hip, shoulder)
• Application of the BSMD method to study the shoulder implant stability in “real” bone
Project Elements:
• Review relevant literature and become familiar with (20%):
o Primary stability, its assessment methods, and its relationship with implant performance
o Experimental design, mechanical testing, and test method validation
o The BSMD technology
o Signal processing methods
• Write a specific project proposal (5%)
• Design and build experimental test setups to work with existing mechanical testing equipment, measurement sensors, and the BSMD (15%)
• Perform comparative studies to determine if BSMD signals can effectively distinguish between loose and fixed implant states (40%)
• Write a detailed final report (20%).
This project will be performed at Zimmer Biomet in the EMEA headquarter in Winterthur. Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, USA, Zimmer Biomet is a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare. We design, manufacture and market orthopaedic reconstructive products; sports medicine, biologics, extremities and trauma products; spine, bone healing, craniomaxillofacial and thoracic products; dental implants; and related surgical products.
Background: Orthopaedic devices that are implanted without a fixation medium (i.e. bone cement) require an inherent primary stability for the long term fixation required to continually function in their biomechanical environment. During surgery, it can be challenging to determine if an implant has sufficient primary stability, as currently, a surgeon can only rely on their experience and qualitative data. The benefits of a device that could provide quantitative data useful for the assessment of primary stability intraoperatively are therefore clear. The ETH Zurich is developing a bone stiffness measurement device (BSMD) that has shown potential to be used for this type of application. The BSMD functions by emitting an acoustic signal that interacts with its environment (e.g. implant and bone) with the hypothesis that responses to the signal will differ between systems with loose and fixed implants. In previous work in this area, the BSMD has shown capability in distinguishing between the complex signal responses from stable and loose implants under certain conditions (i.e. with a small shoulder implant in “artificial” bone). In order to further develop the BSMD tool and fixation evaluation methodology, many possible avenues of further study are possible. Two examples of these are: • Application of the BSMD method to study the stability of another implant (knee, hip, shoulder) • Application of the BSMD method to study the shoulder implant stability in “real” bone
Project Elements: • Review relevant literature and become familiar with (20%): o Primary stability, its assessment methods, and its relationship with implant performance o Experimental design, mechanical testing, and test method validation o The BSMD technology o Signal processing methods • Write a specific project proposal (5%) • Design and build experimental test setups to work with existing mechanical testing equipment, measurement sensors, and the BSMD (15%) • Perform comparative studies to determine if BSMD signals can effectively distinguish between loose and fixed implant states (40%) • Write a detailed final report (20%).
This project will be performed at Zimmer Biomet in the EMEA headquarter in Winterthur. Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, USA, Zimmer Biomet is a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare. We design, manufacture and market orthopaedic reconstructive products; sports medicine, biologics, extremities and trauma products; spine, bone healing, craniomaxillofacial and thoracic products; dental implants; and related surgical products.