Assessment of embedded conjugated polymer sensor arrays for potential load transmission measurement in orthopaedic implants

Authors

Carolina Micolini, Western University
Frederick Benjamin Holness, Western University
James A. Johnson, Western University
Aaron David Price, Western University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2017

Journal

Sensors (Switzerland)

Volume

17

Issue

12

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.3390/s17122768

Abstract

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Load transfer through orthopaedic joint implants is poorly understood. The longer-term outcomes of these implants are just starting to be studied, making it imperative to monitor contact loads across the entire joint implant interface to elucidate the force transmission and distribution mechanisms exhibited by these implants in service. This study proposes and demonstrates the design, implementation, and characterization of a 3D-printed smart polymer sensor array using conductive polyaniline (PANI) structures embedded within a polymeric parent phase. The piezoresistive characteristics of PANI were investigated to characterize the sensing behaviour inherent to these embedded pressure sensor arrays, including the experimental determination of the stable response of PANI to continuous loading, stability throughout the course of loading and unloading cycles, and finally sensor repeatability and linearity in response to incremental loading cycles. This specially developed multi-material additive manufacturing process for PANI is shown be an attractive approach for the fabrication of implant components having embedded smart-polymer sensors, which could ultimately be employed for the measurement and analysis of joint loads in orthopaedic implants for in vitro testing.

Notes

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The article was originally published at:

Micolini, C.; Holness, F.B.; Johnson, J.A.; Price, A.D. Assessment of Embedded Conjugated Polymer Sensor Arrays for Potential Load Transmission Measurement in Orthopaedic Implants. Sensors 2017, 17, 2768. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17122768

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.