Wireless Suture Button Accessory Sensor for Intra- and Post-Operative Monitoring of Suture Loading in Soft Tissue...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Rehabilitation Technology

Background:

• Graft tension is critical for successful tendon and ligament reconstruction.
• Current methods lack intra-operative and post-operative graft tension measurement capabilities.
• This gap impacts surgical outcomes and rehabilitation effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• Develop an implantable sensor for real-time graft tension biofeedback.
• Provide surgeons with intra-operative feedback.
• Aid physical therapists in optimizing rehabilitation protocols.

Main Methods:

• Designed a passively powered, wireless, inductive-capacitive-resistive (LCR) sensor.
• Integrated the sensor with commercially available suture buttons.
• Characterized sensor performance, including loading experiments and signal transmission effects.

Main Results:

• Sensor demonstrated a 5 N to 180 N detection range with high repeatability (1.8% sensitivity change over 10,000 cycles).
• Investigated effects of depth, alignment, and orientation on signal transmission.
• Successfully deployed the sensor in a cadaver knee to monitor graft loading during joint movements.

Conclusions:

• Established the design and functionality of a novel suture button loading sensor.
• This sensor can assist surgeons in refining surgical techniques.
• It offers potential for optimizing rehabilitation protocols to enhance recovery and reduce failure rates.