Medical experts and sports scientists are becoming increasingly reliant on engineers as their disciplines become more and more technical. Mark Ingham looks at some of the projects his company, Sensor Technology, has helped behind the scenes. Like most rugby players I took my knees for granted until the day a twisting fall resulted in a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Fortunately these days it can be fixed with surgery and nine months of physiotherapy, but I took some comfort in the fact that Sensor Technology has contributed – modestly – to the medical knowledge of this crucial joint. With the pending Olympics fueling increased participation in sport, military personnel returning from active service with knee problems and the wear on tear on joints as people live longer the need for new knowledge is growing. One research programme used a Sensor Technology TorqSense industrial sensor to analyze the performance of implanted replacement knee joints. To do this Sensor Technology helped develop a rig centerd on a 100Nm TorqSense transducer with an extended through-shaft supporting crank arms on both ends. The researchers very carefully align the axis of the TorqSense with the patient’s knee and attach the ankle to the end of one [...]
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