Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Advisor 1
Keat Ghee Ong
Committee Member 1
Rupak Rajachar
Committee Member 2
Jingfeng Jiang
Committee Member 3
Parisa Pour Shahid Saeed Abadi
Abstract
Fracture non-union occurs in roughly 5-10% of all fracture cases, and current interventions are both time-consuming and costly. There is therefore significant incentive to develop new tools to improve fracture healing outcomes. Several studies have shown that low-magnitude, high-frequency (LMHF) mechanical loading can promote faster healing and reduce the risk of refracture in critical-size long bone fractures. This is typically done using whole-body vibration, which may result in undesirable systemic effects on the rest of the body. This work discusses an implantable piezoelectric fixation plate that can both apply LMHF loading directly to the fracture site using flexible scheduling and indirectly monitor the progress of healing by using the increasing stiffness of the fracture callus. The design and performance of the piezoelectric bone plate show that the device can apply the target treatment and has the sensitivity to be used to observe the progress of healing. An accompanying telemetry system using BLE communication is also introduced which has a footprint of suitable size to be used in rodent studies and can provide the power necessary for piezoelectric actuation. These results pave the way for future studies regarding the efficacy and optimization of LMHF treatments in fracture healing models.
Recommended Citation
Nelson, Brad, "A Smart Implantable Bone Fixation Plate Providing Actuation and Load Monitoring for Orthopedic Fracture Healing", Open Access Dissertation, Michigan Technological University, 2019.