Wireless chips developed to monitor implants
University of Pittsburgh researchers have patented a wireless chip that can be attached to orthopedic devices for the purpose of tracking and monitoring surgical implants. Developers claim the technology could make obtaining information about implants easier.
Using a handheld receiver, physicians could obtain serial numbers and other important information from the radiofrequency technology, dubbed “Ortho-Tag,” including the pressure of the implant, the chemical balance, temperature of the tissue surrounding it and the presence of harmful organisms, according to the university. Information on the chip would be uploaded prior to an operation, according to Lee Berger, inventor and CEO of Ortho-Tag.
All of the information could be read using a handheld device developed in the laboratory of Marlin H. Mickle, PhD, University of Pittsburgh's electrical and computer engineering professor. When the handheld device is placed against a patient’s skin, it communicates with a radiofrequency identification tag—devised by Pitt graduate school researcher Xiaoyu Land—that emits a wavelength designed to travel through human tissue, the researchers reported. Berger said he developed the concept to resolve patient and physician issues related to lack of information about implants.
“Other than written records, the only way to learn about a device once it’s implanted is through an x-ray. But even that does not provide such details as size, model number, or manufacturer, or health information about the patient that is directly related to the implant’s performance,” Berger said. “For a physician to provide follow-up care, it’s important to know the exact device a patient has, and there are several different models, shapes and sizes of devices for use in knees, hips, feet, the spine and other parts of the skeleton. With Orth-Tag, a doctor only has to scan a chip to see all that information.”
Mickle noted that defective implants are often recalled by serial number, which for patients is often recorded in written records where the original surgery took place. Orth-Tag could make identifying recalled implants easier.
“There are a lot of different devices manufactured by a lot of different companies and implanted at a lot of different hospitals by a lot of different surgeons,” Mickle said. “There has to be accountability for objects implanted in the body, and we hope this technology will finally make orthopedic devices much easier to monitor and, thus, safer for patient.”
Using a handheld receiver, physicians could obtain serial numbers and other important information from the radiofrequency technology, dubbed “Ortho-Tag,” including the pressure of the implant, the chemical balance, temperature of the tissue surrounding it and the presence of harmful organisms, according to the university. Information on the chip would be uploaded prior to an operation, according to Lee Berger, inventor and CEO of Ortho-Tag.
All of the information could be read using a handheld device developed in the laboratory of Marlin H. Mickle, PhD, University of Pittsburgh's electrical and computer engineering professor. When the handheld device is placed against a patient’s skin, it communicates with a radiofrequency identification tag—devised by Pitt graduate school researcher Xiaoyu Land—that emits a wavelength designed to travel through human tissue, the researchers reported. Berger said he developed the concept to resolve patient and physician issues related to lack of information about implants.
“Other than written records, the only way to learn about a device once it’s implanted is through an x-ray. But even that does not provide such details as size, model number, or manufacturer, or health information about the patient that is directly related to the implant’s performance,” Berger said. “For a physician to provide follow-up care, it’s important to know the exact device a patient has, and there are several different models, shapes and sizes of devices for use in knees, hips, feet, the spine and other parts of the skeleton. With Orth-Tag, a doctor only has to scan a chip to see all that information.”
Mickle noted that defective implants are often recalled by serial number, which for patients is often recorded in written records where the original surgery took place. Orth-Tag could make identifying recalled implants easier.
“There are a lot of different devices manufactured by a lot of different companies and implanted at a lot of different hospitals by a lot of different surgeons,” Mickle said. “There has to be accountability for objects implanted in the body, and we hope this technology will finally make orthopedic devices much easier to monitor and, thus, safer for patient.”