Patent ID: 8915866
Filing Date: 2014-12-23
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A system for detecting indicators of soft tissue wear of a joint, comprising: an implantable sensor comprising: an implantable accelerometer configured to detect a vibration signal indicative of a characteristic of the soft tissue of the joint, including an external surface configured to maintain the accelerometer in a fixed position within the bone and a telemetry circuit adapted for transmitting a data set representative of the detected vibration signal outside of the bone; and an external receiver in communication with the implantable sensor and the implantable accelerometer, the external receiver configured to receive the data sets representative of the acoustic signal and vibration signal and further configured to analyze the data sets to determine changes in the soft tissue; wherein the accelerometer is one of a multi-axis accelerometer or a plurality of single-axis accelerometers to produce vectored data to differentiate between locations and types of soft tissue degradation, and wherein the at least one of the implantable sensing element and the implantable accelerometer are configured as a reference marker detectable by an image guided surgery system.