Vertebrae Transmission Probe Testing - Preliminary Bone Measurements

• We are developing a new transmission-based probe for assessing vertebrae strength via the differences between the dielectric properties of normal and osteoporotic bone. The probes are simple open-ended coaxial cables that will fit easily into the pedicle canals drilled by the surgeons before implanting screws to secure the supporting instrumentation. If the screws pull because of bone weakness, it can inflict a wide range of complications. In the progression towards actual clinical trials, we have already validated the approach on different liquids with varying dielectric properties. In this study, we assess actual animal bone samples as a precursor to human investigations. We exploit the fact that the trabecular bone is considerably different on opposite sides of the growth plate of long bones such as the femur - somewhat mimicking differences between normal and osteoporotic bone. For these experiments, we show that the properties of the distal and proximal sections are considerably different and present opportunities to exploit them in a diagnostic setting

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Ortopedi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Orthopaedics (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Annan elektroteknik och elektronik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

vertebrae

transmission probe

far-field

dielectric properties

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)