Quantitative monitoring of osseointegrated implant stability using vibration analysis

Reliable and quantitative assessments for the stability of the osseointegrated prostheses are desirable and advantageous in ensuring the success of the installation and long-term performance. However, the common evaluation techniques are qualitative, where their accuracy of which relies on the surgeon’s experience. This computational study investigates the potential of using vibrational response to evaluate the stability of the osseointegrated implant using finite element simulation. This paper mainly focuses on the resonance frequency shift and mode shape changes associated with the degree of osseointegration which is simulated by varying bone-implant interface Young’s modulus. The resonance frequency of the specific torsional modes increases 211% and 155% for low-frequency (0 to 1800Hz) and high-frequency (1800 to 5000Hz) ranges respectively, as the simulated osseointegration process. Moreover, the torsional mode change from the implant to the femur-implant system is clearly evidenced. The findings highlight the potential application of vibration analysis on the assessment of implant stability.