Tan Yisong, Hu Jiale, Ren Limin, Zhu Jianhua, Yang Jiaqi, Liu Di
School of Mechanical Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China.
Sensors (Basel). 2017 Nov 16;17(11):2635. doi: 10.3390/s17112635.
This paper reports on a sensor for monitoring bone plate strain in real time. The detected bone plate strain could be used for judging the healing state of fractures in patients. The sensor consists of a magnetoelastic material, which can be wirelessly connected and passively embedded. In order to verify the effectiveness of the sensor, a tibia-bone plate-screw (TBS) model was established using the finite element analysis method. A variation of the bone plate strain was obtained via this model. A goat hindquarter tibia was selected as the bone fracture model in the experiment. The tibia was fixed on a high precision load platform and an external force was applied. Bone plate strain variation during the bone fracture healing process was acquired with sensing coils. Simulation results indicated that bone plate strain decreases as the bone gradually heals, which is consistent with the finite element analysis results. This validated the soundness of the sensor reported here. This sensor has wireless connections, no in vivo battery requirement, and long-term embedding. These results can be used not only for clinical practices of bone fracture healing, but also for bone fracture treatment and rehabilitation equipment design.
本文报道了一种用于实时监测骨板应变的传感器。检测到的骨板应变可用于判断患者骨折的愈合状态。该传感器由磁弹性材料组成，可无线连接并被动植入。为了验证该传感器的有效性，采用有限元分析方法建立了胫骨-骨板-螺钉（TBS）模型。通过该模型获得了骨板应变的变化。实验中选用山羊后肢胫骨作为骨折模型。将胫骨固定在高精度加载平台上并施加外力。用感应线圈获取骨折愈合过程中骨板应变的变化。模拟结果表明，随着骨逐渐愈合，骨板应变减小，这与有限元分析结果一致。这验证了本文报道的传感器的可靠性。该传感器具有无线连接、无需体内电池且可长期植入的特点。这些结果不仅可用于骨折愈合的临床实践，还可用于骨折治疗和康复设备的设计。
