Presenter: Noah Greenblatt – Human Physiology
Co-Presenter(s): Walker Rosenthal
Faculty Mentor(s): Keat Ghee Ong, Salil Karipott
Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Stimuli and Response, Poster Presentation
Strain, a primary measure of the dynamic mechanical environment, is important with regard to patient aimed orthopedic treatment especially in minimizing complications that arise after certain bone fracture injuries. Currently, methods aimed at assessing the mechanical environment include external stimulating devices that fail to measure strain during normal gait patterns, and estimated parameters computed from different computational models which lack real-time data. With these limitations in determining real time load condition in bone fracture healing, we aimed to fabricate a bone fixation device that provided adequate mechanical stability to a healing bone fracture and measured strain present on the device in a rodent femur. This device transmits measurements wirelessly to a nearby computer for quantification of strain. Our results showed the ability to successfully measure local axial strain during functional loading on a rodent with a femur fracture. This device facilitates the study of mechanical strain and its role in bone healing in preclinical rodent fracture models. Most importantly, this device allows for future rehabilitation protocols that are evidenced-based and patient specific.