The city of Brest can be proud to welcome a global innovation: the connected knee prosthesis. In the next five years, the chip inserted into the prosthesis will detect infection or mechanical problems.
The bionic man is on his way. Yesterday, in Brest, the project FollowKnee officially started. The goal is to create connected prostheses capable of signaling an infection or a mechanical defect. The project, associating researchers and companies, has no less than 24 million euros and five years to meet expectations.
The interest is to take a step forward in this area. Frequently, the problems encountered in terms of knee replacement are infection and mechanical damage. The “connected” aspect of the prototype will make it possible to directly assess the state of the machine. The opportunity to treat the failure in time, which is a luxury with regard to current prostheses.
A futuristic project
The 3D printer will take care of the creation of the prosthesis. Inside, small sensors will measure the temperature and the ph level. This information will be sent to doctors via Bluetooth. The sensors will spontaneously send alerts in real time if any of the data is abnormal. One of the difficulties lies in the need to make man and electronics coexist: the sauce must take between these two bodies. If the man is autonomous, the machine is not: it will be necessary to reload the prosthesis. Tracks ? Place the patient in an electromagnetic field. This raises other questions, medical as well as ethical. Despite everything, if successful, the project FollowKnee will quickly inspire other researchers to deal with the hips, ankles or shoulders.
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