Smart Implants for complicated bone fractures
Smart Implants is an interdisciplinary project that brings together expertise from medicine, materials science, mechanics and computer science to improve the personalized treatment of complicated fractures of the lower leg.
At the heart of the project is the idea of positively influencing bone healing through targeted and adapted loading of the fracture gap. For this purpose, a novel implant is to be developed which is not only optimally adapted to the respective fracture from a mechanical point of view, but is also intended to support the healing process itself through active movement and stiffening. The intelligent material nickel-titanium (Nitinol) is used for this purpose, which in the form of wafer-thin wires can act like an artificial muscle. Furthermore, the implant or sensor-equipped insoles collect data on gait profile and load, which are used to generate patient-specific feedback and healing prognoses using methods of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Specialized simulation techniques, which reproduce the involved mechanical processes as precisely as possible, will enable the individual optimization of the implant for each patient using conventional imaging techniques (e.g. computer tomography).
The project is funded with €8 million by the Werner Siemens Foundation.
Partners
Universität des Saarlandes, Universitätsklinikum Homburg/Saar, Lehrstuhl für Technische Mechanik, Zentrum für Mechatronik und Automatisierungstechnik