Scripps Health Receives NIH Grant to Develop Smart Shoulder Replacement Implant
Summary
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Researchers at Scripps Health have received grant funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop what is believed to be the worlds first smart shoulder replacement implant that can continuously and remotely monitor and transmit data on the inner workings of a patients new shoulder after surgery.The $317,000 grant award will support the initial phase of research, which will be conducted over the next two years at the Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research and Education (SCORE) at Scripps Clinic on Torrey Pines Mesa. In this early phase, researchers plan to design, produce and verify the functionality of a smart implant prototype. They also will aim to demonstrate proof of concept by testing the device in the shoulder of a human cadaver to validate the implants operability and consistency.Shoulder replacement surgery represents an important area of study, said Darryl DLima, M.D., Ph.D., director of orthopedic research at Scripps Health and the initiatives co-lead investigator, along with Heinz Hoenecke, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon and researcher at Scripps Clinic. Studies show that the number of these procedures has grown significantly in recent years in the United States and the trend is expected to continue. Scientists in Germany previously developed an electronic shoulder implant equipped with force sensors, which was limited to collecting data within a lab while the patient was tethered to a wireless power supply.According to Dr. DLima, Scripps smart shoulder implant will be able to monitor patients outside the lab and store data onboard.