A portable monitoring system for measuring weight-bearing during tibial fracture healing.

An ambulatory monitoring system has been developed to measure the weight-bearing achieved by a patient on their fractured leg. The system is lightweight, portable, and can monitor weight-bearing continuously over an extended period of time. In addition to mean weight-bearing, the system can also determine temporal parameters associated with the patients' gait.

Bone mineral changes during tibial fracture healing.

The traditional assessment of fracture healing by manipulation and viewing of radiographs is subjective and qualitative. Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry by contrast provides an accurate, precise, and minimally invasive quantitative measure of bone mineral density, a property that shows strong correlations with various mechanical properties of bone. Fourteen patients with unilateral tibial shaft fractures stabilized by external fixation were monitored with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry at monthly intervals after fracture.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry as a measure of healing in fractures treated by intramedullary nailing.

The conventional qualitative techniques of manual manipulation and plain radiography do not give a quantifiable measurement of healing. With internal fixation, manual manipulation is not usually possible, and conventional radiographs may not give much useful information, particularly if only a small amount of callus is formed. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) provides an accurate method of quantifying the changes in bone mineral density (BMD) which occur during fracture healing.

The chondrogenic potential of carbon fiber and carbon fiber periosteum implants: an ultrastructural study in the rabbit.

The articular tissue generated on carbon fiber rods in rabbit knee joints after 75 days of intermittent active motion was compared with tissue generated on carbon fiber rods whose articular surfaces were covered with a free reversed periosteal graft. Both methods were effective in generating articular tissue; however, tissue with ultrastructural characteristics similar to those of hyaline cartilage was noted more frequently on the composite implants. If such composite implants were clinically effective then they might be useful in treating symptomatic osteochondral defects.