Design of filigree bone fracture fixation of plates (on going) Study of filigree patterns for biomedical jewellery applications (finished)
Keywords: Filigree, Medicine, Jewellery, Biomedical device, Product design, Bone fracture fixation
Project’s Acronym
FIOS
FCT Funding
Design of filigree bone fracture fixation of plates
(49 989,70€)
Study of filigree patterns for biomedical jewellery applications
(48 071,00€)
Project Duration (on going)
12 months
Team
Olga Noronha
Rafael Coelho
José Simões
António Ramos
Margarida Azevedo
José Carlos Noronha
Orlando Branco Simões
Published research has come about through considering sites on and in the body at different archaeological layers (from outer to inner physical space) viz. orthotics, subdermal, exodermal, exo-corporeal and intracorporeal jewellery. These layers present a series of medical jewels that recognise science, jewellery and technology as accomplices to the repair and enhancement of the self while adding value to the mended body. Rather than only a medium for expression, the repaired or fixed body becomes a locus for experience, symbolism and aestheticisation – the jewel is understood as to both aestheticise the body (it becomes you) and become integrated and integral to the body. Olga Noronha (PI of the project) in her practice-based thesis, “becoming the body”, indexes an aesthetic enhancement of the body; naturalisation in the body - as a body replacement or part of it; completion or repair of the body and a prosthetic enhancement. By moving jewellery to surgical repair, the research and its practices test the boundary/edge of what jewellery is and is not, what it may mobilise, and how it may perform. The discursive-ness of the practice is defined by understanding how the different designs perform in different situations, provoking and rising questions that are both specific to and cross contrasting scenarios. Therefore, by intending to minimise or deflect the negative and mutilating effect inherent to medical repair, medical jewellery seeks to comprehend how these speculative and propositional designs of aestheticised scientific technology and medical knowledge are emotionally and physically experienced, and what knowledge they gather and convey. As a hipper-valorisation of the circumstance, and beseeching self-pleasure by re-designing the body, emerges the potential of bejewelling medical and surgical components, turning these into pieces of exquisite jewellery that one does not wear for a public scenario but rather for what it means for the self, a hidden treasure, defying the conventional aim of adornment. Regarding biotechnological and biomedicine advances that allow the praxis of an object penetrating and perforating skin and subcutaneous cellular tissue and the possibility of inserting others in a deeper level within the body, by means of re-shaping one’s physicality, a concept of subdermal - bone fixation plates was proposed in Olga Noronha’s doctoral thesis. Set within orthopaedics, the primary objective of internal fixation (osteosynthesis) is to achieve immediately the total functionality of the injured limb with rapid rehabilitation of the patient. The procedure consists on the surgical implementation of metal plates, rods and/or screws for repairing a bone, which cannot permanently replace a broken bone, but must provide the necessary temporary support. Currently, elected materials are metals or metal alloys, including stainless steel and titanium, since these have high strength, good ductility and necessary biocompatibility. Stiffer fixation plates may be desirable in certain clinical situations; in others, a less rigid plate can be the best clinical solution. The biomechanical issues are related to the resistance-stiffness compromise for improved bone healing and fixation. Relating to osteosynthesis plates, studies reveal that it is apparently desirable that the bone plate transfers the load to the bone structures which are to be connected, allowing some degree of micro-mobility to stimulate the formation of the bone callus. It is of widespread opinion, that a less rigid plate might be functionally more appropriate, and that stiffness plays a key role throughout the bone fracture consolidation mechanism, allowing physiological micromobility for the formation of repair tissue. The project hereby proposed is to design, develop and test, on a scientific basis, osteosynthesis fixation bone plates using traditional jewellery manufacturing technique of filigree well established in the North of Portugal. The objective is to push forward the biojewellery concept to explore subdermal concept - bone fixation plates. Therefore, silver filigree bone plates will be designed (geometries) and tested as bone healing fixation elements. Different design geometry patterns will be experimentally tested and those presenting suitable stiffness/strength for adequate and physiological mechanobiology mechanisms will be selected to manufacture bone plate samples. Results of mechanical testing will answer the research question: On patient desire, can silver filigree osteosynthesis bone fixation plates (a biojewellery) be medically prescribed? With reference to studies carried out by Olga Noronha, focused on social and psychological aspects related to body modification practices and medical-surgical intervention, analysing biomedical research on the treatment of physical injuries, biocompatibility, and design of prostheses and elements for medical implantation, she presented and developed the concept of "Medically Prescribed Jewellery" - as an alternative form of jewellery through the adaptation of the perception of medical treatment. In this context, as well as the aim of revitalization and study of the application of filigree in the development of biomedical devices, there is a need to build research groups with researchers with different competencies in different areas of knowledge, particularly in art, design, and biomechanics. Thus, a first part (I) of a more comprehensive project with scientifically more ambitious objectives related to the study of the application of filigree in implantable medical devices considering their multifactorial dimensions that include scientific areas such as art, design, materials and technologies, psychology, and sociology, was financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology - PTDC/EXPL/ART-DAQ/1347/2021 (https://biofiligree.com/). In this project, significant advances were made regarding the proof of concept and confirmation of the functionality of fracture fixation plates. The results of this project unequivocally respond to the research question stated in the project application: can filigree osteosynthesis bone fixation plates be clinically prescribed? In fact, it is possible, depending on the fractured bone region, to use filigree plates, but their aesthetic composition influences how the fracture is fixed and the consolidation mechanisms. With the aim of advancing the concept of medical jewellery, different filigree bone fixation plates were designed and explored. Once the bone fracture is healed, the fixation plate can be removed and transformed into wearable jewellery, such as a bracelet, ring, pendant, depending on its original size. However, in this project, it was not possible to analyse the effect that the design of the plates, specifically the geometries of the motifs (“SS”, spirals, scrolls, curls, scales, snails, and cornucopia) and “skeletons”, condition and influence the stiffness and resistance properties. Through drawings, models, and finite element analyses, it was found that these geometries had a significant effect on biomechanical performance. Having said so, it is essential to correlate the geometries of the motifs with the stiffness and mechanical resistance characteristics of the plates. These results will allow bounding the design freedom regarding the aesthetic composition of the plates. Thus, the research question concerns how the aesthetic configurations, in a material-motif-skeleton interconnection, of bone fixation plates condition the mechanical performance with the aim of stimulating their fixation and allowing the physiological development of bone callus. The project is structured into six tasks. In addition to the tasks underlying the communication and dissemination of the project and its results, one of the tasks consists of obtaining information and perceptions, from people and healthcare professionals, about the first part of the finished project, which consisted of studying filigree patterns for biomedical jewellery. One of the tasks aims to explore different designs and configurations of plates, and their prototyping will allow testing their biomechanical performance in vitro in synthetic bone structures to analyse ergonomic and anatomical issues and aspects related to surgery performing. In a subsequent task, plates with "medical viability" will be selected for a more detailed study on the influence that designs have on their biomechanical performance through numerical analyses by finite elements. This task is especially important regarding the project's objectives, and a new selection of plates will be made to be manufactured by two alternative manufacturing methods, specifically by 3D metal prototyping and lost wax foundry. These plates will be mechanically tested through bending and fatigue tests, and their performance will be cross-referenced with numerical results. Unlike plates obtained by prototyping in the design and motif exploration phase, these plates will be applied to synthetic bone structures used in research because they do not present the material variability that cadaveric bones contain. The project will be finalized by correlating the initial designs of the plates with their mechanical stiffness and resistance characteristics and set the limits of design freedom.
Investigação publicada examina o corpo em camadas ou níveis “arqueológicas” (do espaço físico exterior ao interior), sugerindo o desenvolvimento de joias ortopédicas, subdérmicas, exodérmicas, exocorporais e intracorpóreas. Estes níveis consideram um conjunto de joias de teor e propósito médicas que reconhecem a ciência e a tecnologia como cúmplices no tratamento e cura do “Eu-físico”, acrescentando-lhe valor estético. Mais que apenas um meio de expressão, o corpo tratado torna-se um locus de experiência, simbolismo e estetização -a joia é entendida como embelezador do corpo (“torna-se o corpo”) integra-se e passa a formar parte integral do corpo. Olga Noronha (PI) na sua tese, “Becoming the Body”, indexa um aprimoramento estético do corpo; naturalização no corpo-como uma substituição de parte do corpo; tratamento e/ou um aumento protésico. Transportando a joalharia para o ato cirúrgico, a pesquisa e suas práticas testam os limites do paradigma da “joia”; o que pode mobilizar e como pode atuar contemporaneamente. A discursividade da prática é definida pela compreensão de como os diferentes projetos se comportam em diferentes situações, provocando e levantando questões que são específicas em cenários contrastantes. Deste modo, ao tentar minimizar ou desviar o efeito negativo e mutilador inerente ao tratamento médico, as joias médicas buscam compreender como tais projetos especulativos e propositivos de tecnologia científica esteticizada e de saber médico são emocional e fisicamente experienciados e que conhecimento angariam e veiculam. Como uma hipervalorização da circunstância cirúrgica, e em busca de auto-prazer redesenhando o corpo, surge o potencial de transformar componentes médicos/cirúrgicos, tornando-os peças de joalharia ímpar, como que um tesouro escondido que desafia o objetivo convencional de adorno. Tendo em conta os presentes e futuros avanços a nível biotecnológico que permitem a práxis de um objeto penetrar e perfurar pele e tecido celular subcutâneo, e a possibilidade de inserção de outros materiais num nível mais profundo dentro do corpo, transformando-o numa superfície manipulável passível de reconfiguração física, um particular conceito de placas fixação óssea subdérmica foi proposto na tese de doutorado de Olga Noronha. No ramo da ortopedia, o objetivo principal da fixação interna (osteossíntese) é alcançar total e imediato retorno da funcionalidade do membro lesionado, promovendo a rápida reabilitação do paciente. O procedimento consiste na implementação cirúrgica de placas de metal, hastes e/ou parafusos para reparar o osso fraturado, não podendo tais substituir permanentemente o osso já cicatrizado, devendo sim fornecer o suporte temporário necessário. Atualmente, os materiais de eleição são metais ou ligas metálicas, incluindo aço inoxidável e titânio, pois possuem alta resistência, boa ductilidade e biocompatibilidade necessária. Placas de fixação mais rígidas podem ser desejáveis em certas situações clínicas; em outras, uma placa menos rígida pode ser a melhor solução clínica. As questões biomecânicas estão relacionadas com o compromisso resistência-rigidez para melhor cura e fixação óssea. Em relação às placas de osteossíntese, estudos revelam que é aparentemente desejável que a placa transfira a carga para as estruturas ósseas que serão ligadas, permitindo que algum grau de micromobilidade estimule a formação do calo ósseo. É de opinião generalizada que uma placa menos rígida pode ser funcionalmente mais apropriada e que a rigidez desempenha um papel fundamental em todo o mecanismo de consolidação da fratura óssea, permitindo a micromobilidade fisiológica para a formação de tecido reparador. O projeto proposto consiste em desenhar, desenvolver e testar, cientificamente, placas de fixação óssea, utilizando a técnica tradicional de filigrana, património cultural do norte de Portugal. O objetivo é avançar com o conceito de joalharia médica, para explorar placas de fixação óssea biofiligrana. Por fim, uma vez curado o osso, a placa de fixação poderá ser extraída e transformada numa joia usável, como por exemplo uma pulseira, anel, pendente, dependendo da sua dimensão original. Assim, placas ósseas de filigrana de prata serão projetadas e testadas como elementos de fixação da cicatrização óssea. Diferentes padrões de geometria (como por exemplo SS, espirais, rodilhões\crespos, escamas, caracóis, caramujos e cornucópias) de projeto serão experimentalmente testados e aqueles que apresentarem rigidez/resistência adequadas para a mecanobiologia fisiológica serão selecionados para fabricar amostras de placas ósseas. Os resultados dos ensaios mecânicos destas placas permitirão responder à principal questão de investigação: Podem as placas de fixação óssea de osteossíntese em filigrana ser prescritas clinicamente? Com referência aos estudos desenvolvido pela Olga Noronha, focados nos aspetos sociais e psicológicos relativos às práticas de modificação corporal e intervenção médico-cirúrgica, analisando investigação biomédica sobre o tratamento de lesões físicas, biocompatibilidade e desenho de próteses e elementos para implante médico, apresentou e desenvolveu o conceito de "Joalharia Medicamente Prescrita"–como uma forma de atuação da joalharia por meio da adaptação da perceção do tratamento médico. Neste âmbito a revitalização e estudo da aplicação da filigrana no desenvolvimento de dispositivos biomédicos tem sido objetivo cientifico, mas que implica a constituição de grupos de investigação em diferentes áreas do conhecimento, particularmente da arte, design e biomecânica. Assim, uma primeira parte I de um projeto mais abrangente com objetivos cientificamente mais ambiciosos que se prendem com o estudo da aplicação da filigrana em dispositivos médicos implantáveis considerando as suas dimensões multifatoriais que incluem áreas científicas como arte, design, materiais e tecnologias, psicologia e sociologia, foi financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - PTDC/EXPL/ART-DAQ/1347/2021 (https://biofiligree.com/). Nesse projeto avanços significativos foram alcançados no que diz respeito à prova de conceito e comprovação da biofuncionalidade de placas de fixação de fraturas ósseas. Os resultados desse projeto respondem, inequivocamente, à questão de investigação referida na candidatura do projeto: podem as placas de fixação óssea de osteossíntese em filigrana ser prescritas clinicamente? De facto, é possível, em função da região óssea fraturada utilizar placas de filigrana, mas a sua composição de carácter estético tem influencia na forma como fixa a fratura. Nesse projeto, com o objetivo de avançar com o conceito de joalharia médica, permitiu explorar diferentes placas de fixação óssea fabricadas em filigrana. Uma vez curada fratura óssea, a placa de fixação poderá ser extraída e transformada numa joia usável, como por exemplo uma pulseira, anel, pendente, dependendo da sua dimensão original. Contudo, nesse projeto não foi possível analisar o efeito que o design das placas, em concreto as geometrias dos motivos (como por exemplo SS, espirais, rodilhões, crespos, escamas, caracóis, caramujos e cornucópia) e dos esqueletos condicionam e influenciam as propriedades de rigidez e resistência. Verificou-se, através de desenhos, modelos e análises por elementos finitos que essas geometrias tinham um efeito significativo no desempenho biomecânico. Ou seja, é fundamental correlacionar as geometrias dos motivos com as características de rigidez e resistência mecânica das placas. Estes resultados permitirão balizar a liberdade projetual no que diz respeito à composição estética das placas. Assim, a questão de investigação prende-se em saber como as configurações estéticas, numa interligação material-motivo-esqueleto das placas de fixação óssea condicionam o desempenho mecânico com o objetivo de estimular a fixação das mesmas e permitir o desenvolvimento do calo ósseo de modo fisiológico. O projeto está estruturado em seis tarefas. Para além das tarefas subjacentes à comunicação e disseminação do projeto e seus resultados, uma das tarefas consiste em obter informação e perceções, das pessoas e de profissionais de saúde, sobre a primeira parte do projeto finalizado, que consistiu no estudo de padrões de filigrana para joalharia biomédica. Uma das tarefas tem como objetivo explorar desenhos e configurações de placas e cuja sua prototipagem permitirá testar de modo in vitro o seu desempenho biomecânico em estruturas ósseas sintéticas para analisar questões de carácter ergonómico e anatómico e sobre aspetos que se prendem com a realização das cirurgias. Numa tarefa posterior, as placas com “viabilidade médica” serão selecionadas para um estudo mais detalhado sobre a influência que os designs têm relativamente ao seu desempenho biomecânico através de analises numéricas por elementos finitos. Esta tarefa assume especial importância relativamente aos objetivos do projeto e uma nova seleção de placas será feita para serem fabricadas por dois métodos de fabrico alternativos, em concreto, por prototipagem metálica 3D e por fundição por cera perdida. Aas placas serão ensaiadas mecanicamente através de ensaios de flexão e fadiga e cruzar o seu desempenho com os resultados numéricos. Ao contrario das obtidos por prototipagem na fase de exploração dos desenhos e dos motivos e esqueletos, os modelos serão aplicados em estruturas ósseas sintéticas que são utilizadas em investigação por não apresentarem a variabilidade material que os ossos cadavéricos contêm. O projeto será finalizado através da correlação dos desenhos de partida das placas com as suas características mecânicas de rigidez e resistência e assim estabelecer os limites da liberdade dos desenhos.
Preserving cultural heritage while developing new scientifical purposes for its application.
Filigree is a technique to manufacture jewelery objects of great cultural tradition in certain regions of Portugal. In this context, it should be noted that, in addition to the perspective of scientific intervention proposed with this project, it is important to preserve cultural heritage, as well as to promote cultural and social development, with repercussions in the medium and long term in the country, especially in the municipalities where the industry still prevails. Economic issues are also relevant to the sector ́s survival that it is not possible to ignore. The proposed project aims to disseminate and share the knowledge of ancient filigree art, an inheritance passed down through generations, in an attempt to ensure its continuity, in an innovative perspective of combining it with medical devices that can be converted to jewels. This new innovative perspective opens a new path for the use of filigree that can add its share to the sustainable development of the “filigree” regions. In this way, the objective is to foster the revitalization of the craft of filigree and promote the awareness of stakeholders and political power in the defence of cultural heritage, fostering regional cooperation, in an era of globalization that threatens the cultural identity of communities.
Plan and Methods (on going)
The proposed exploratory project aims only part of a more ambitious project of multifactorial dimensions including scientific areas such as art, design, medicine, materials and technology, psychology and sociology. The art, design, psychology and sociological dimensions of the proposal, has been significantly studied by Olga Noronha in her doctoral thesis – What extent can jewellery, science and technology come together in relation to the human body? Her research gathers public reflection on the work to evaluate the way it is read and is meaningful in different contexts. In order to understand how the work contributes and provokes traction, the practice has been made public in numerous contexts (viz. art galleries, a fashion show and several engineering and medical conferences). This allowed Olga to advance the understanding/meaning of the work by different communities of practice, which ultimately gave rise to discussions on new directions of social rituals and on the merging of aesthetics and ethics.
The main objective of the project is to make a proof-of-concept to design bone fracture plates in filigree materials and patterns and test these plates mechanically to verify if they are suitable to be applied in an in vivo surgery context.
The research plan includes 3 main tasks: 1-Project management and dissemination; 2-Design of filigree geometry patterns; and 3-Prototyping filigree bone plates & mechanical testing. Tasks 2 and 3 are interconnected and will be articulated in a reverse design methodology, since project decisions depend on the output results to be obtained within each task. To develop the project, a multidisciplinary team (surgeons, material engineers, biomechanics and designers) of researchers with complementary experience and skills necessary for the good development of the project was gathered.
Tasks
Task 1
The dissemination will be carried out, objectively, through the participation of team members in congresses and through scientific publications in national and international journals, as well as through master’s dissertations. A final national colloquium will be held with stakeholders, industry professionals and health professionals such as orthopaedic surgeons with interests in the area of osteosynthesis to present the results of the project. This will be carried out with the support of the Portuguese Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology and Portuguese Biomechanical Society. It is also the objective of the PI to present the results of the project at either the European Orthopaedic Research Society, or International Orthopaedics Society or European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. In parallel and through the timeline of the project, different communication channels will be used, namely scientific peer-reviewed journals.
Task 2
Objective: Gather valuable insights of orthopaedic surgeons, biomedical engineers, researchers, and other relevant professionals and also gather their perspectives on the proposed filigree bone fracture fixation plates. Creating a questionnaire about filigree bone fracture fixation plates can help gather valuable insights of orthopaedic surgeons, biomedical
engineers, researchers, and other relevant professionals to gather their perspectives on filigree bone fracture fixation plates. It is also important that the inquiry addresses into how jewellery ‘becomes the body’, how jewellery, science and technology can come together to produce new arrangements readings or meanings, and performances in/of the body. Have as reference the part I of the Biofiligee project, questions can include, not all, the following, and will be adaptable if general public or health/engineering professionals:
– How can jewellery aesthetically enhance the body?
– How can jewellery become integrated in the body?
– In what ways can jewellery act in/on the body? And further, into the body?
– Can jewellery disclose and open up medical practices to publics?
– What is your relationship towards the repair of the body and the repaired body?
– How can you bring medicine and jewellery together?
– If you were given the chance, would you want to be able to choose or customize the medical foreign body you are being prescribed?
– Can you imagine and draw a medically inscribed jewel? And a filigree bone fixation plate?
– How familiar are you with bone fracture fixation plates? What if they were proposed in filigree?
– In what capacity have you interacted with bone fixation plates?
– What are your general perceptions of filigree bone fixation plates compared to traditional fixation plates?
– What advantages or disadvantages do you perceive filigree fixation plates to have over traditional fixation plates?
– What improvements or modifications would you like to see in filigree fixation plates in the future?
– How do you envision the future role of filigree fixation plates in orthopaedic surgery?
Please share any additional comments or insights you have regarding filigree bone fracture fixation plates. If you are willing to participate in follow-up interviews or discussions, please provide your contact information (optional). Other type of information will be requested such as, demographic Information, age, gender, occupation, years of experience and expertise (health/engineering professionals). Adjustments can be made based on the specific focus or objectives of the research.
Task 3
Within this task, filigree geometry patterns will be explored and redesigned, based on a thorough investigation of the existing filigree techniques and pattern variations. Research will be complemented and made on the common components and structuring process of typical Portuguese filigree, understanding how the different parts that form the overall structure can be reconsidered in dimension and decoration for the purpose hereby exposed. As a matter of specification, it is anticipated that the thicker structure that holds the thinner wires, known as ‘skeleton’, may have to be reconsidered in its geometric wire section from square/rectangular to half-round. As the for the decorative elements known as SS, spirals, curls, scales, snails, conchs and cornucopias, these may also have to be reconsidered in thickness and morphology. The inner skeleton geometry plays an important role concerning the stiffness and strength characteristics of the device. These and the decorative elements can be redesigned based on the finite element analysis findings. Filigree 3D printed bone plate will be manufactured for surgery simulation an evaluation. The ergonomics and anatomical features of the device will be analysed for possible adaptations to reproduce the real surgery application. Due to the geometry of the fractures anatomical sites, changes can be need to make to the plates. The output of the task are different types of bone plates that will be selected for the in silico analysis and then fabrication and mechanical testing. This task will be coordinated by the IR and will be the subject of a master’s dissertation proposal in Product Design to be carried out at Escola Superior de Artes e Design under her supervision.
Task 4
In this task, the biomechanics of selected bone sites are to be identified, namely to define loading characteristics for the finite element analysis. Only bone fractures reparable with this type of plates will be evaluated, particularly fractures of small bones. In the previous project, it was possible to verify that there will be some structural limitations in the application of filigree plates in long bone fractures. With reference to the plates produced in task 2, a geometrical survey of the plates to be analysed will be conducted from the perspective of their strength and stiffness. This task will allow assessing how the geometrical elements of the motifs, as well as the inner skeleton of the plate, influence its structural performance. This task will be considered in a master’s proposal in Mechanical Engineering to be developed at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Aveiro, coordinated by researcher José Simões and will have the consultancy of investigator António Ramos. Both have extensive experience in the field of biomechanics and finite element analyses.
Task 5
In this task, based on the results of the computational analysis, plates will be manufactured for testing and evaluation regarding their strength and stiffness characteristics. In this context, and concerning manufacturing processes, two distinct technologies will be applied, namely the use of metal rapid prototyping technology and the lost wax casting process. The former, considering the objectives of this project, appears more suitable and versatile from the perspective of applying more organic designs to the plates. However, it is believed that the properties of plates produced by the lost wax casting process may allow for plates with stiffness and strength more suitable for certain fractures with higher load demands. In fact, manufacturing of these type of plates in titanium and stainless steel possesses some demanding problems like cracking aiming to set-up of a reliable fabrication process. Some fabrication problems can raise in the processing of the starting materials, some due to the
casting grain. In fact, this is an important task to avoid problems like: poor quality of the starting materials, including scarp, that can induce contamination and possible embrittlement; poor melting properties, leading to casting defects and/or gas porosity and blisters, incorporation of inclusions, excessive shrinkage porosity, and segregation; stress corrosion cracking in some gold alloys; and incorrect annealing. In fact, due to the types of materials to be used, this task is fundamental to fabricate adequate plates for mechanical testing. A rigorous control of starting materials will be made. The plates will be manufactured at INEGI of the University of Porto, which possesses the necessary expertise. The mechanical tests on plates manufactured by the two aforementioned processes will be conducted at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Aveiro, which will be part of a master’s dissertation proposal. In this task, the objective is to mechanically test the filigree bone plates. A statistical significant number of plates will be tested under tensile and in 3-point bending mechanical tests (standard F382-99). These tests are the suitable ones to characterize the structural demand that plates are subjected to fixate the fracture healing region of bones (tibia, femur, elbow, ankle, etc.). The output of results are the stiffness and strength parameters of plates suitable for the biomechanical-biological application in analysis. In the second phase of the task, fractured synthetic bones sites will be used to characterize the fixation of fractures using osteosynthesis plates manufactured previously. An experimental methodology to determine plated femur strains using fibre Bragg gratings and strain will be applied. Strains will be recorded at the same sites on all bones. This methodology based on fibre Bragg grating sensors is a novel approach to assess bone plate strains and has been developed and tested by the researchers of this project.
Task 6
The correlation between the geometry of filigree motifs and the results of mechanical tests, stiffness, and strength, will allow us to define patterns that are most suitable for different types of bone fractures. These results will be relevant in perspective to avoiding the inadequate development of new plates for specific bone fracture fixation. Thus, we will understand how the typology of the decorative elements such as ‘SS’, spirals, scrolls, scales, snails and cornucopias influence the stiffness and resistance of bone plates. In this context, it is also important to mention the significance of the internal skeleton geometry of the plate and the areas to be filled with the decorative elements.
