Whitepapers

Smart knee implant uses triboelectric energy

Executive Summary

Although the number of total knee replacement surgeries is growing rapidly, functionality and pain-reduction outcomes remain unsatisfactory for many patients.  Continual monitoring of knee loads after surgery offers the potential to improve surgical procedures and implant designs.  The goal of this study is to characterize a triboelectric energy harvester under body loads and to design compatible frontend electronics to digitize the load data.