Breakthrough sensor transmits data from orthopaedic implants

According to researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the sensor technology provides opportunities to make specific and detailed diagnostics for a particular patient and to tailor care based on very objective and quantitive measures. "This highly unique sensor is very small at just 4mm diameter and 500microns thick," said assistant professor Eric Ledet. "It's wireless, battery-less and requires no telemetry within the body. Its simplicity makes it less prone to failure and very inexpensive to produce." According to Ledet, the orthopaedic implant acts as a carrier for the sensor. The wireless sensor can monitor load, strain, motion, temperature, and pressure in the challenging in vivo environment and can be placed into a spinal or fracture fixation implant, for example, to determine the patient's progress. "For the patient that is progressing well, the information from the sensor enables the physician to determine that the patient can return to work without risk of injury," Ledet explained. "The number of lost days at work is reduced." The system is also said to be capable of alerting the physician to potential problems, indicating that additional interventions may be needed. "By maintaining a simple platform, we're able to customise the sensor and make it very, very small so it can be incorporated into a lot of different implants," said researcher Rebecca Wachs. "By changing one small parameter, we can change the sensitivity of the sensor itself." A number of breakthroughs with the sensor have been made in the last 18 months and the researchers are now looking to mass produce the device to drive the price down further.