A Tennessee Tech Professor received a $2.5 million research grant from the National Institute of Health for his work on new knee replacement technology.
Associate Professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Dr. Steve Anton said he has developed a self-powered smart knee. Anton said the implant generates the energy needed to power it, which extends the lifespan. Anton said the implant will help improve medical experiences.
“The current FDA approved implant from Zimmer does not measure forces in the knee,” Anton said. “It measures more motions in the knee, and so, we’re looking at directly measuring the forces that occur and the motions inside the knee in a self-powered manner.”
Anton said the physical therapists could use these measurements to measure success of therapy, and in doing so, reduce recovery time. In addition, Anton said the new smart knee can improve patient satisfaction.
Anton said one or two patients in ten are unhappy with their knee replacements, which is too high of a number. He said in order to move the needle, there needs to be a way to figure out what is actually happening inside the knee. Anton said the implants can help doctors continue to monitor knee replacement years after the surgery and recovery.
“The main functionalities of the Smart Knee implant is to be able to track the forces and motions as patients get these replacements, go through their therapies,” Anton said. “But in years to come, because sometimes a knee replacement might fail early after several years. And we don’t know why. We don’t have a lot of information as to why they fail.”
Anton said that in some ten percent of patients, knee replacements need to be revised through an additional procedure. This involves the removal of an old implant and the installation of a new one, which is an invasive surgery with a long recovery.
Anton said the new implants he has helped develop will help researchers determine the failure mechanisms. He said component loosening is a common cause for failure. Anton said patients may also feel instability in the replacement, or a feeling that it will buckle.
Anton said the grant will fund a team of researchers, including Tech graduate students, as they dive into the issues with knee replacements. Anton said he will lead the team, but the students will be an integral part of the research.
Anton said the grant will also cover a joint motion simulator needed to test the implants. IThe equipment will cost some $300,000, and it will be installed on campus. Anton said the device simulates the motions of the knee.
“We will use it to simulate the motions that happen in the human knee,” Anton said. “That allows us to do a lot of development testing here at Tennessee Tech of our smart devices before they would ever be implanted.”
Anton said the research is expected to take five years. He said part of the project involves testing the project on cadavers, which will be done by collaborators at Western Ontario University in Canada. Anton said a surgeon will implant the prototype Smart Knees in the cadaver legs before they are tested with a joint simulator machine.
Anton said that that testing is an important step toward FDA approval. In addition to funding for the research itself, Anton said funding will help cover travel expenses so his team can share the research at international conferences, meet with collaborators, as well as publish the findings.
