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【medical-news】新纳米生物医疗设施检测髋骨移植
New biomedical device uses nanotechnology to monitor hip implant healing, may reduce wait times
It is so small, you can barely see it, but a microsensor created by University of Alberta engineers may soon make a huge difference in the lives of people recovering from hip replacement surgery. The U of A research team has invented a self-powered wireless microsensor for monitoring the bone healing process after surgery--it is so tiny it can fit onto the tip of a pen.
"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.
During the healing process that follows joint replacement, bone grows and attaches to the pores on the surface of the implant creating greater fixation and stability of the joint. This process is known as osseointegration.
Using nanotechnology, the researchers built a device that measures and compares the relative osseointegration of a hip implant over time. The microsensor will be able to monitor the progression of the biological fixation between bone tissue and the implant.
The sensor is permanently implanted with the joint and is powered kinetically--it uses the natural movement of the patient's body as its power source. When it isn't being used, it stays dormant until a doctor asks it to start transmitting data.
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.
"The ability to monitor and quantify this healing process is critical to orthopaedic surgeons in determining a patient's rehabilitation progress," says Moussa, who has a lab in the National Research Council's National Institute for Nanotechnology. "Until now, there has been no quantitative method for assessing osseointegration."
The device will also cut down the need for X-rays to monitor bone functionality, reducing costs and exposure to radiation. And the sensor can detect and identify bone less before it is even visible on a radiograph.
This technology will not only monitor bone healing at the time of surgery but also can determine when implants are worn out and need to be replaced. It will be valuable throughout the patient's lifetime for observing and maintaining the health of the implant. This research has the potential to transform biomedical practice with fascinating applications in artificial knees, hip replacement, and other joint therapy. Earlier this year, TEC Edmonton, a joint initiative of the U of A and Edmonton Economic Development Corp to advance technology transfer and commercialization, filed a provisional U.S. patent application for the work.
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Dr. Moussa collaborated on this project with Dr. Edmond Lou, a research associate in the Rehabilitation and Technology Department of Glenrose Hospital in Edmonton and an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Dr. John Cinats, section head of Orthopaedics, Capital Health and associate clinical professor at the University of Alberta Hospital.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Walied Moussa, Faculty of Engineering
University of Alberta, (780)492-6027 New biomedical device uses nanotechnology to monitor hip implant healing, may reduce wait times
应用于髋移植物监测的新的纳米技术生物医药设备，可以缩短观察时间。
It is so small, you can barely see it, but a microsensor created by University of Alberta engineers may soon make a huge difference in the lives of people recovering from hip replacement surgery. The U of A research team has invented a self-powered wireless microsensor for monitoring the bone healing process after surgery--it is so tiny it can fit onto the tip of a pen.
这种由University of Alberta的工程师们设计的微型感应器虽然体积很小（肉眼不可见），但是对髋关节置换术后病人的生活有巨大作用。University of Alberta的研究团队已经发明了一种自身供能的无线微型感应器用来监测术后骨的愈合，这用仪器体积很小以至可以放置在钢笔尖上。
"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.
“这种仪器不仅缩短了术后愈合时间，而且有助于缩短需要人工关节置换的患者的等待时间。”Dr. Walied Moussa（机械工程教授）说。
During the healing process that follows joint replacement, bone grows and attaches to the pores on the surface of the implant creating greater fixation and stability of the joint. This process is known as osseointegration.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-07-10 05:52
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