Wireless microfluidic force sensors for orthopaedic surgery and telemetry

用于骨科手术和遥测的无线微流体力传感器

• 批准号: EP/X030105/1
• 负责人: Sohini Kar-Narayan
• 金额: $ 16.47万
• 依托单位: University of Cambridge
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX030105%2F1
• 关键词: Wireless; microfluidic; force; sensors; orthopaedic

The number of hip replacements being performed globally is increasing significantly. An ageing population means that the number of hip arthroplasties is increasing, as is the number of failures, putting a great strain on public health infrastructure. At the same time, lifestyle changes have led to these procedures now being performed in a much younger cohort of patients, with typical lifespans of implants being 15 to 20 years primarily due to wear. A major cause for this wear and premature implant failure is eccentric loading due to inappropriate positioning which further necessitates expensive and difficult revision surgery. Currently, implant positioning is performed using anatomical landmarks, relying heavily on the surgeon's skill, as there is no objective method of measuring the forces in the hip to guide the optimal positioning of the implant. This proposal is aimed at solving this unmet clinical need by delivering wireless, implantable and conformable force sensors that can be integrated within current hip replacement prostheses to give accurate force readings from the joint during surgery, in order to minimize failure rates and improve patient outcome and care. This will be achieved through a novel microfluidic-based capacitive force sensing technology recently pioneered by the PI. These force sensors are soft and biocompatible, and they can operate in the limited space and challenging mechanical environment of the hip joint. However, these sensors currently have to be physically wired to external data acquisition modules. This arrangement is not optimal for use in a surgical setting. Therefore, there is an urgent need to make these sensors wireless in order to be compatible with surgical practice. The goal of this project is to incorporate wireless telemetry into our intraoperative force sensors, thereby enabling our technology to progress towards regulatory approval, and bringing us closer to first-in-human trials.

全球进行髋关节置换术的数量正在显着增加。人口老龄化意味着髋关节置换术的数量不断增加，失败的数量也在增加，给公共卫生基础设施带来巨大压力。与此同时，生活方式的改变导致这些手术现在在更年轻的患者群体中进行，种植体的典型寿命为 15 至 20 年，主要是由于磨损。这种磨损和植入物过早失效的主要原因是由于定位不当而导致的偏心负载，这进一步需要昂贵且困难的修正手术。目前，植入物定位是使用解剖标志进行的，很大程度上依赖于外科医生的技能，因为没有客观的方法来测量髋部的力来指导植入物的最佳定位。该提案旨在通过提供无线、可植入和舒适的力传感器来解决这一未满足的临床需求，这些传感器可以集成到当前的髋关节置换假体中，在手术过程中提供关节的准确力读数，从而最大限度地减少故障率并改善患者的治疗结果和护理。这将通过 PI 最近首创的基于微流体的新型电容力传感技术来实现。这些力传感器柔软且具有生物相容性，可以在髋关节有限的空间和具有挑战性的机械环境中运行。然而，这些传感器目前必须物理连接到外部数据采集模块。这种布置对于在手术环境中使用并不是最佳的。因此，迫切需要使这些传感器无线化，以便与手术实践兼容。该项目的目标是将无线遥测技术纳入我们的术中力传感器中，从而使我们的技术能够取得监管部门的批准，并使我们更接近首次人体试验。