I-Corps: Ligament Tension Sensor

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种测量韧带张力的设备。韧带是连接关节处骨骼的组织，并帮助指导关节的运动。尽管了解韧带张力对于广泛的临床应用（如韧带修复和全膝关节置换术）至关重要，但目前还没有直接、无创地测量体内韧带张力的设备。使用该装置测量韧带张力可以帮助外科医生更好地进行个性化治疗，这可以减少昂贵的后续治疗，以纠正经常引起疼痛、僵硬和/或不稳定的韧带张力。此外，该装置可作为诊断和术前计划工具，也可用于骨科和康复诊所。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种装置，根据剪切波在韧带中的传播速度来确定韧带张力。这种现象类似于吉他弦的振动频率随张力的变化（即弦越紧，横波速度和频率越高）。替代技术（例如，扣式传感器和光纤）测量韧带张力，但需要侵入性植入，以防止其转化为临床。这项被称为韧带张力计的传感器技术被放置在韧带表面的皮肤上，该设备激发剪切波并跟踪其通过皮肤和皮下组织的传播。已经证明，波沿韧带传播的速度准确地预测了韧带的张力。建议的初始目标应用是全膝关节置换术，因为该技术可以使外科医生识别和纠正可能不适当拉伸的单个结构，从而减轻术后疼痛、僵硬和不稳定。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a device to measure the tension in ligaments. Ligaments are tissues that connect bones together at joints and help guide the motion of the joint. Despite the critical importance of understanding ligament tension for a wide range of clinical applications (e.g., ligament repair and total knee replacement), there are no devices to directly and non-invasively measure ligament tension in vivo. Measuring ligament tension using the proposed device may help surgeons to better personalize treatments, which may reduce the need for costly follow-up procedures to correct improperly tensioned ligaments that often cause pain, stiffness, and/or instability. In addition, the proposed device may be used as a diagnostic and pre-operative planning tool as well as in orthopedic and rehabilitation clinics.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a device to determine ligament tension based on the propagation speed of shear waves in the ligament. This phenomenon is similar to the variation in a guitar string’s vibration frequency with tension (i.e., a tighter string has a higher shear wave speed and frequency). Alternative technologies (e.g., buckle transducers and optical fibers) measure ligament tension, but require invasive implantations preventing their translation into the clinic. The proposed sensor technology, called a ligament tensiometer, is placed against the skin superficial to the ligament of interest and the device excites a shear wave and tracks its propagation through the skin and subcutaneous tissues. It has been shown that the speed that the wave travels along the ligament accurately predicts the tension in the ligament. The proposed initial target application is total knee arthroplasty because the technology may enable surgeons to identify and correct individual structures that may be improperly tensioned, which could mitigate post-operative pain, stiffness, and instability.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.