Hannover Messe: Better healing of fractures with smart bone nails
Smart intramedullary nails enable immediate loading and are intended to provide information about the healing process.
The shape memory technology, which was first developed for implant plates (prototype on the right), is now also intended to monitor and promote the healing of bone fractures in intramedullary nails (left). Young scientists Susanne-Marie Kirsch (left) and Felix Welsch are involved in researching the smart implants.
(Image: Universität des Saarlandes / Oliver Dietze)
In the future, smart intramedullary nails are to be used for fractures of long bones, which enable immediate loading and can provide information about the healing process. The nails are inserted into the marrow of the affected bone and can thus support the healing process.
On the one hand, they are intended to provide data about the fracture gap and thus make visible whether and how well the fracture is healing. Secondly, the flexibility of the nail can be regulated via the smartphone, allowing the patient to immediately put full weight on the leg again by hardening the nail. When he rests, the nail can be adjusted to be softer again.
This works by two mini-motors working against each other to pull a rod with a conical head into the appropriate opening in a soft, elastically deformable plastic. The mini-motors are hair-thin wire bundles made of nickel-titanium. They achieve high tensile force in tiny dimensions and have the highest known energy density of all drive mechanisms. Current pulses are used to control whether the wires shorten or lengthen.
Further ideas for the future
In the future, it should also be possible for micro-massage at the fracture gap to stimulate the growth of new bone tissue. The technology is also set to become even smaller so that it can also be used in facial surgery, for example for jaw fractures.
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Bergita Ganse's research team has already been able to equip implant plates with this technology. The aim now is to transfer the technology to smaller devices. The researchers have already been developing the implant plates for five years, funded by the Werner Siemens Foundation. Research into the intramedullary nails is being funded by the EU as part of the Horizon Europe project within the framework of the €21 million Smile (Smart implants for life enrichment) research project.
The team developing the intramedullary nails consists of trauma surgeon Bergita Ganse, engineers Paul Motzki and Stefan Seelecke, as well as junior scientists Susanne-Marie Kirsch and Felix Welsch at Saarland University. The new and further developments will be presented at the Hannover Messe, which begins on March 31.
(tlz)
