Implementation of an Elementary and Robust Implantable Sensor for Musculoskeletal

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The clinical utility of smart implants to facilitate personalized medicine in musculoskeletal disease is vast. On a patient-specific basis, the implant's physical environment provides a wealth of diagnostic data regarding the progression of healing and prognosis of an outcome. Customized care through personalized medicine reduces costs and improves outcomes by facilitating better diagnoses and optimal treatment regimens for individual patients. Previous smart implant systems used for research have not been adaptable to daily clinical practice due to complexity, cost, and the required modification of host implants. In this project, we will develop and implement a simple, robust, inexpensive, battery-less, telemetry-less, single component implantable sensor with no electrical connections for musculoskeletal smart implants. We will demonstrate that the sensor meets the criteria to facilitate personalized musculoskeletal medicine in daily clinical practice. The sensors will be integrated into spinal implants to (a) objectively correlate in vivo force to progress of spinal fusion, and (b) quantify real time in vivo multi-axial interbody force (axial and shear) during dynamic activities in the goat cervical spine.