accepted for publication

reference The paper I submitted to EMBC 2014 has been accepted for publication! During my PhD thesis I’ve conceived a miniaturised actuation system to be embedded in the tibial component of an instrumented knee prosthesis for the evaluation and correction of collateral ligaments imbalance conditions in the postoperative period. A second model, feasible but bulkier, is considered as an alternative solution and is presented in this other publication. The sections Publications and Curriculum Vitae are now up-to-date.

Title: A Miniaturised Actuation System Embedded in an Instrumented Knee Implant for Postoperative Ligament Imbalance Correction

Authors: A. Collo, P. Poignet, C. Hamitouche, S. Almouahed, and E. Stindel

Abstract: During Total Knee Arthroplasty surgery, the orthopaedic surgeon has to set up proper balance conditions for the two lateral ligaments of the knee. Such ligament tensioning procedure is performed manually and mainly depends on the surgeon’s experience. Unfortunately, inaccuracies are unavoidable and may give rise to serious postoperative complications. In the worst-case scenario, the only solution to this problem is represented by revision surgery. In order to cope with this problem, this work proposes a novel instrumented tibial component able to detect knee imbalance conditions in the postoperative period. A miniaturised actuation system embedded in the tibial baseplate allows to restore optimal balance conditions without resorting to revision surgery.

reference A bit later than expected 🙂 but the good news has arrived: the paper I submitted to Biorob 2014 has been accepted for publication! This work presents one of the two miniaturised actuation systems for an instrumented knee implant that I’ve conceived in the framework of my PhD thesis. The second model is described in another paper that is currently under review.

Title: An Active Tibial Component for Postoperative Fine-Tuning Adjustment of Knee Ligament Imbalance

Authors: A. Collo, P. Poignet, C. Hamitouche, S. Almouahed, and E. Stindel

Abstract: Ligament tensioning is a key step in Total Knee Arthroplasty surgery. The surgeon has to manually set proper tension conditions for the two lateral ligaments of the knee. Inaccuracies may lead to severe postoperative complications and, in the worst-case scenario, to revision surgery. Unfortunately, suboptimal balance conditions are unavoidable and no assistance tool has been developed up to now to help the surgeon during the surgery. The goal of this work is to propose an instrumented tibial component able to evaluate ligament balance conditions after surgery and to monitor their evolution in the postoperative period. Thanks to an embedded actuation system, optimal ligament tension values can be restored so as to improve the prosthesis lifespan and avoid the need for revision surgery.