Multidisciplinary investigations on the use of TiNb alloy orthopedic device equipped with low profile antenna as smart sensor

Abstract In this paper, a new complex medical device is proposed using TiNb based metallic alloy, acting also as a ground plane for a low profile printed antenna sited on a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The first step of the research is oriented on the experimental study of the properties of TiNb based alloy and on the development of the orthopedic device. The second step is focalized on the electromagnetic characterization of the implanted printed antennas. The resulting smart orthopedic device incorporating the antenna and when embedded in a body environment is numerically analyzed from communication point of view. In particular, the radiation characteristics, necessary for the calculation of the link budget when the device is used for communication with the external to the body receiver is considered. Such scenario finds its applications in monitoring some vital human functions for example in post chirurgical rehabilitation or other long-term surveys

Light Alloys — From Traditional to Innovative Technologies

Selection of materials with the expected, application-dependent characteristics constitutes a very important point in any industrial application. In the automotive and aeronautical industries, the current tendency is to use light metals and their alloys for production of various components. For example, some of the problems related to fuel consumption and weight reduction could be partially solved by using such alloys as an alternative to traditional iron-based alloy components. Due to their very attractive properties, the most commonly employed light materials for producing high-stressed components are aluminium, magnesium and their alloys. Al-based alloys have a high strength/weight ratio, good formability, excellent combination of castability and mechanical properties which together with an excellent corrosion resistance make them very appropriate for a large variety of applications. There are two important families of aluminium alloys: (i) wrought alloys, firstly cast as ingots and/or billets and then mechanically hot- and/or cold-worked into the preferred shape, and (ii) cast alloys, directly cast into their final form through different traditional or innovative processes

Some Considerations on the Structure Refinement in Al-Based Alloys

Grain size is one of the most important characteristics that affect the processing and in turn the properties of alloys. Grain refinement determines many advantages in light alloy casting: it can be achieved using different methods, based on the available technological possibilities and on the performances that one has to obtain. By using grain refinement, important benefits can be reached, for both cast and wrought aluminium alloys: among other, the most important enhancement regards the fine distribution of the second phases, improved castability, reduction of shrinkage porosity, higher mechanical properties, as well as superior fatigue life. The present chapter is not exhaustive on this argument; however, in the first part it reports some current literature data and some perspectives about the grain refinement, while in the second part which has been mostly carried out within a current PhD Thesis focalized on the improvement of the properties of Al-based alloys by physical grain refinement methods, some experimentally obtained results have been presented and discussed

Bio-compatibility of metallic alloys for body-area communication systems

Mechanical behavior, biocompatibility in body environment and tissues and chemical stability are the most important requirements for the effective application of any bio-implant materials in the human body. Among the known metals and alloys, stainless steels, CoCr alloys and Ti and its alloys are the most widely used materials in such applications. In case of their use, one of the most important engineering approach is to guarantee insignificant biological stress to the human system and to maintain the whole integrity and functionality of the human being. In this paper we pay our attention on the study of the properties of two types of metallic alloys: one of them is a modified CoCr alloy, while the second one is a new generation of TiNb based alloy. The first step of the study is related to the determination of the microstructural and mechanical behavior of the alloys and to assess their chemical stability by the evaluation of their corrosion resistance. The further step will be to evaluate and to control the interaction between the human body and the biomaterial inside the biological environment using an appropriate numerical model. In this way it will be possible to detect the presence of defects in the biomaterial, considering the surface chemistry and its topography, which can control this system leading to regulate in time an inappropriate interface avoiding the removal of the implant for the restoration. Furthermore, the results of such an investigation represent a good starting point in designing of intra-, inter-body or body-coupled printed implanted antennas, i.e., antennas located inside the body used to communicate with external base stations or between different nodes of a network

Manufacturing, Composition, Properties and Application of Sintered Hard Metals

Among other materials, hard metals represent an important family of functional materials. They show properties that are combinations of those of their constituents. The general idea while using hard metals is to exploit their excellent properties in terms of hardness, toughness, wear resistance, and chemical stability. These characteristics made hard metals as promising candidate for use as a cutting tool, which constitutes their main area of application. Depending on the particular use, the most important properties can be achieved: (i) by properly selecting the constituents made up the whole composition, (ii) by varying the relative composition of the phases, or (iii) by applying a suitable hard metal coating layer on the top of the cutting tool. This chapter presents a general overview of the actual scenario concerning different tool materials, including a short history and description of state‐of‐the‐art techniques as regards their composition, their manufacturing routes and their most important properties. Some results of the own research in this field are carried out during the years will integrate this part

Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) evolution in populations of the hyperparasitic European mistletoe pathogen fungus, Sphaeropsis visci (Botryosphaeriaceae) : The utility of ITS2 secondary structures

We investigated patterns of nucleotide polymorphism in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region for Sphaeropsis visci, a hyperparasitic fungus that causes the leaf spot disease of the hemiparasite European mistletoe (Viscum album). Samples of S. visci were obtained from Hungary covering all major infected forest areas. For obtaining PCR products we used a fast and efficient direct PCR approach based on a high fidelity DNA polymerase. A total of 140 ITS sequences were subjected to an array of complementary sequence analyses, which included analyses of secondary structure stability, nucleotide polymorphism patterns, GC content, and presence of conserved motifs. Analysed sequences exhibited features of functional rRNAs. Overall, polymorphism was observed within less conserved motifs, such as loops and bulges, or, alternatively, as non-canonical G–U pairs within conserved regions of double stranded helices. The secondary structure of ITS2 provides new opportunities for obtaining further valuable information, which could be used in phylogenetic analyses, or at population level as demonstrated in our study. This is due to additional information provided by secondary structures and their models. The combined score matrix was used with the methods implemented in the programme 4SALE. Besides the pseudoprotein coding method of 4SALE, the molecular morphometric character coding also has potential for gaining further information for phylogenetic analyses based on the geometric features of the sub-structural elements of the ITS2 RNA transcriptPeer reviewe

Key Generation of Biomedical Implanted Antennas Through Artificial Neural Networks

This paper presents an accurate and efficient optimization-based approach for modelling and sizing implanted antennas automatically. The proposed method employs the long short-term memory (LSTM) artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting the design specifications in not only one frequency but also in a large frequency band. The entire process is performed in an automated environment that is the combination of electronic design automation (EDA) tools and the numerical analyzer. Based on this intelligent method, the difficulty of designing electromagnetic (EM)-based antennas is solved to the most degrees and the design parameters can be achieved in the easiest way. To validate the efficiency of the presented ANN, two implanted antennas are designed; they and realized on a grounded biocompatible substrate and covered by bone, muscle, fat, and skin tissues, respectively. These implanted antennas are optimized in terms of input scattering parameter, E-plane and H-plane radiation pattern (RP) specifications and the suitable design parameters are provided automatically. The modelled implanted antennas are appropriate to be used at the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency band between 2.4 GHz and 2.5 GHz

Up-to-Date Knowledge and Outlooks for the Use of Metallic Biomaterials: Review Paper

In all cases, when a material has to be used in medical applications, the knowledge of its physical, chemical and biological properties is of fundamental significance, since the direct contact between the biological system and the considered device could generate reactions whose long-term effects must be clearly quantified. The class of materials that exhibits characteristics that allow their use for the considered applications are commonly called biomaterials. Patients suffering from different diseases generate a great demand for real therapies, where the use of biomaterials are mandatory. Commonly, metallic biomaterials are used because their structural functions; the high strength and resistance to fracture they can offer, provide reliable performance primarily in the fields of orthopedics and dentistry. In metals, because of their particular structure, plastic deformation takes place easier, inducing good formability in manufacturing. The present paper is not encyclopaedic, but reports in the first part some current literature data and perspectives about the possibility of use different class of metallic materials for medical applications, while the second part recalls some results of the current research in this field carried out by the authors

Deep Learning and its Benefits in Prediction of Patients Through Medical Images

The ability to comprehend the medical images and make prediction on diseases, significantly depends on any medical doctors' experiences. In the wireless medical communications, this process is not developing effectively, and significant tasks are required to make it of high accuracy. Hence, advanced methods are required for accurately diagnosing the various diseases and in the shortest time. Use of deep learning techniques can be a proper solution due to their suitable accuracy in the image segmentation giving rise to pathologic prediction by considering the medical images. In this paper, we employ the deep neural network for predicting the various cysts that can be exist in the human's brain. This intelligent method can estimate and predict the types of brain cysts by the provided medical images. The experimental results demonstrate the well-performance of the presented method to be used for predicting the patients with affections by the help of scanned medical images

Amplifiers in Biomedical Engineering: A Review from Application Perspectives

Continuous monitoring and treatment of various diseases with biomedical technologies and wearable electronics has become significantly important. The healthcare area is an important, evolving field that, among other things, requires electronic and micro-electromechanical technologies. Designed circuits and smart devices can lead to reduced hospitalization time and hospitals equipped with high-quality equipment. Some of these devices can also be implanted inside the body. Recently, various implanted electronic devices for monitoring and diagnosing diseases have been presented. These instruments require communication links through wireless technologies. In the transmitters of these devices, power amplifiers are the most important components and their performance plays important roles. This paper is devoted to collecting and providing a comprehensive review on the various designed implanted amplifiers for advanced biomedical applications. The reported amplifiers vary with respect to the class/type of amplifier, implemented CMOS technology, frequency band, output power, and the overall efficiency of the designs. The purpose of the authors is to provide a general view of the available solutions, and any researcher can obtain suitable circuit designs that can be selected for their problem by reading this survey