Date of Award

5-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Medical Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Peter Gustafson

Second Advisor

Dr. Steven Butt

Third Advisor

Dr. Keith Kenter

Abstract

One of the steps of performing a total hip arthroplasty (THA) is to broach a femoral implant down the femoral canal to add stability down the length of the femur. Broaching consists of surgeons impacting the femoral implant multiple times down the trabecular bone of the femur in increasing size until the implant is sized to either within 3mm of fill of the bone cavity or within surgeon discretion. Fracture of the bone can be caused if the force of impact is too great. Furthermore, surgeons do not know how much force they generate when using an impaction device, such as a mallet. The aim of this study is to build a tool capable of quantifying surgeon mallet swinging performance. G-forces were taken with respect to time from an accelerometer and a Raspberry Pi attached to an orthopedic mallet. Calculations using the g-force were then conducted to identify the velocity of surgeon mallet swing. The importance of velocity calculations in determining the energy available to do work imparted from the surgeon mallet swing is described. Results indicate the device is unable to accurately calculate velocity and thus it requires further development. Ideas for improvement are discussed and potential clinically relevant experiments are proposed for the next device iteration.

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