Intraoperative Assessment of Humeral Implant Stability

This research seeks to develop a process and tool for assessing the stability of an implant during shoulder replacement surgery. The proposed system will help shoulder surgeons decide whether an implant is sufficiently secure prior to completing the surgery. Researchers will measure how much torque it takes to loosen an Exactech shoulder implant from artificial bone models in a laboratory and relate this peak torque to the quality of the bone surrounding an implant. Knowing this relationship between torque and bone quality, surgeons will be able to use the proposed surgical tool to apply a known torque to an implant during surgery and assess whether the implant is stable enough to complete the procedure. By collaborating with Exactech, a shoulder implant manufacturer, researchers will be able to test this process on real implants and the company will benefit by being the first to offer this new surgical assessment along with their implants.

Faculty Supervisor:

G. Daniel G. Langohr

Student:

Jacob Mackenzie Reeves

Partner:

Exactech, Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Western University