Patellar Tendonitis Detection

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a joint implant including a first implant coupled to a first bone of a joint, and a second implant coupled to a second bone of the joint and contacting the first implant. The second implant can include a plurality of sensors configured to measure data and a processor operatively coupled to the plurality of sensors and adapted to receive the data from the sensors. The first implant can be a femoral implant coupled to a femur. The second implant can be a patellar implant coupled to a patella. Sensor data from the patellar implant can indicate movement between the femoral implant and the patellar implant and identify patella condition such as a patellar rotation, patellar tilt and patellar tendonitis.

1 . A knee joint implant comprising:
 a femoral implant coupled to a femur of a patient, the femoral implant including at least one marker;   a patellar implant including:   at least one marker reader to detect a position of the marker to ascertain positional data of the patellar implant with respect to the femoral implant, and   a processor operatively coupled to the marker reader,   wherein the processor outputs the positional data to an external source.   
     
     
         2 . The knee joint implant of  claim 1 , wherein the marker is a magnet and the marker reader is a magnetic sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The knee joint implant of  claim 2 , wherein the magnetic sensor is a Hall sensor assembly including at least one Hall sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The knee joint implant of  claim 3 , wherein the magnet is a magnetic track disposed along a surface of the femoral implant. 
     
     
         5 . The knee joint implant of  claim 4 , wherein the femoral implant includes a first magnetic track extending along a medial side of the first implant and a second magnetic track extending along a lateral side of the femoral implant. 
     
     
         6 . The knee joint implant of  claim 5 , wherein the patellar implant includes a first Hall sensor assembly on a medial side of the patellar implant and a second Hall sensor assembly on a lateral side of the patellar implant, the first Hall sensor assembly configured to read a magnetic flux density of the first magnetic track and the second Hall sensor assembly configured to read a magnetic flux density of the second magnetic track. 
     
     
         7 . The knee joint implant of  claim 6 , wherein a central portion of the first magnetic track is narrower than an anterior end and a posterior end of the first magnetic track. 
     
     
         8 . The knee joint implant of  claim 7 , wherein the first magnetic track includes curved magnetic lines extending across the first magnetic track. 
     
     
         9 . The knee joint implant of  claim 1 , wherein the patellar implant includes any of a pH sensor, a temperature sensor, a load sensor and a pressure sensor operatively coupled to the processor. 
     
     
         10 . The knee joint implant of  claim 1 , wherein the patellar implant includes a transmitter to transmit the positional data to an external source. 
     
     
         11 . The knee joint implant of  claim 1 , wherein the positional data indicates at least one of patellar shift and patellar rotation. 
     
     
         12 . A method for monitoring a patellar implant, the method comprising:
 coupling any of a femoral implant to a femur of a joint and a tibial implant to a tibia of the joint;   providing a patellar implant;   sensing sensor data with a sensor positioned in the patellar implant, the sensor data indicating a relative position of the patellar implant with reference to the femoral implant or the tibial implant; and   outputting the sensor data from a processor to an external source.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the sensing step includes sensing the sensor data from at least one Hall sensor positioned in the patellar implant. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the sensing step further includes sensing magnetic flux density caused by at least one magnet positioned within the femoral implant or the tibial implant. 
     
     
         15 . The method of the  claim 14 , wherein the outputting step includes gathering sensor data from the sensor, analyzing the sensor data with the processor, storing the sensor data, and emitting the sensor data to an external source. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further including analyzing the sensor data with a machine learning algorithm. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the analyzing step includes analyzing a first sensor data from a first point in time and comparing it to a second sensor data at a second point in time to determine a change in sensor data. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a change in sensor data indicates patellar tendonitis. 
     
     
         19 . A method of monitoring implant position over time comprising:
 coupling a femoral implant to a femur of a joint;   providing a patellar implant, the patellar implant including a sensor, a microcontroller, and a power source;   measuring a reference movement value at a first time indicating a movement of the patellar implant with reference to the femoral implant;   measuring a secondary movement value at a second time indicating a movement of the patellar implant with reference to the femoral implant; and   comparing the reference movement value to the secondary movement value.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the measuring steps include measuring a first magnetic flux from a Hall sensor corresponding to the reference movement and measuring a second magnetic flux from the Hall sensor corresponding to the second movement. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the measuring steps further include measuring first and second magnetic fluxes caused by magnets imbedded within the femoral implant. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the measuring steps include manipulating the joint in the same orientations at the first time and the second time, the first and second times being different. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein a change between the first and second magnetic flux data indicates patellar shift or patellar rotation.