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Implantable, Wireless Sensors Share Secrets of Healing Tissues
Engineering Researchers at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute Create Smart Sensors To Help Personalize
Medicine by Wirelessly Transmitting Data From Orthopedic
Surgery Site
A new implantable sensor developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
can wirelessly transmit data from the site of a recent
orthopedic surgery. Inexpensive to make and highly reliable,
this new sensor holds the promise of more accurate, more
cost-effective, and less invasive post-surgery monitoring and
diagnosis.
Following an orthopedic procedure, surgeons usually rely on
X-rays or MRIs to monitor the progress of their patient’s
recovery. The new sensors, created by Rensselaer faculty
researcher
Eric Ledet, would instead give surgeons detailed, real-time
information from the actual surgery site. This in vivo
data could lead to more accurate assessments of a patient’s
recovery, or provide better insight into potential
complications.
The wireless sensor measures only 4 millimeters in diameter
and 500 microns thick. It needs no battery, no external power,
and requires no electronics within the body. Instead, the
sensor is powered by the external device, which is also used to
capture the sensor data.
“Our new sensor will give surgeons the opportunity to make
personalized, highly detailed, and very objective diagnoses for
individual patients,” said
Ledet, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical
Engineering at Rensselaer. “The simplicity of the sensor is
its greatest strength. The sensor is inexpensive to produce,
requires no external power source, yet it is robust and
durable. We are very excited about the potential of this new
technology.”
The sensors look like small coils of wire and are attached
to commonly used orthopedic musculoskeletal implants such as
rods, plates, or prostheses. Once implanted in the in
vivo environment, the sensor can monitor and transmit data
about the load, strain, pressure, or temperature of the healing
surgery site. The sensor is scalable, tunable, and easy to
configure so that it may be incorporated into many different
types of implantable orthopedic devices.
One key benefit of this new technology is the possibility of
more accurate assessments by physicians for when recovering
patients are able to return to work without a risk of further
injury.
“Having a stream of real-time in vivo data should
take some of the approximation and subjectivity out of
declaring a patient recovered and ready to return to work,”
Ledet said.
Ledet and his research team have filed for patent protection
for their new sensor. They currently make each sensor by hand,
but are investigating methods for mass production. Ledet has
been working on this sensor technology for about five years,
and has presented his progress at several conferences. His most
recent presentation was earlier this month in San Francisco at
the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) 2012 Annual Meeting.
Ledet, who earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from
Rensselaer in 1995 and 2003, conducted this research in
collaboration with colleagues at Albany Medical College.
Ledet’s co-investigator on this project is Dr. Richard Uhl, who
earned his bachelor’s degree from Rensselaer and is head of the
Division of Orthopedic Surgery at Albany Medical College.
For additional information on Ledet’s research at
Rensselaer, visit:
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Published
February 21,
2012 |
Contact: Michael Mullaney
Phone: (518) 276-6161
E-mail: mullam@rpi.edu |
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