Biomechanical comparison of a new expandable intramedullary nail and conventional intramedullary nails for femoral osteosynthesis in dogs

Intramedullary nailing of diaphyseal femoral fractures is a commonly used treatment method in dogs because of its biological and biomechanical advantages compared to bone plating. To achieve adequate resistance of the intramedullary nail against torsional and axial compressive forces, additional application of transcortical screws is needed. As these interlocking screws represent a frequent cause of post-operative complications, a new expandable intramedullary nail (EXPN) was developed, which was designed to provide adequate fracture stabilisation without the need for transcortical fixation. The evaluation of the biomechanical properties of the new EXPN with regard to torsional, compressive and bending stability as well as direct comparison to the biomechanical properties of conventional Steinmann (STMN)- and interlocking (ILN) nails was carried out with different biomechanical test arrangements. No significant statistical differences regarding the torsional and bending resistance between the EXPN and ILN group were seen, which indicates that rotatory as well as bending stability of the innovative EXPN is similar to the conventional ILN. Nevertheless, the percentage deviation between the attempted and successfully reached physiological compressive forces was significantly higher (p = 0.045) in the EXPN group compared to the ILN group, which indicates that the compressive stability of the innovative EXPN might be weaker compared to the ILN. In summary, the new EXPN represents an interesting alternative to conventional intramedullary nails. However, in direct comparison to conventional interlocking nails, the EXPN has shown weaknesses in the neutralization of axial compressive forces, which indicates that at least biomechanically the interlocking nail seems advantageous. Further in-vitro and in-vivo investigations are required before clinical use can be recommended. © 2020 Plenert et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

A Multi Perspective Framework for Enhanced Supply Chain Analytics

Supply chain analytics, especially in the field of food supply has become a strategic business function. Monthly executive sales and operation planning meetings utilize supply chain analytics to inform strategic business decisions. Having identified gaps in the strategic management of food supply chains, a multi perspective supply chain analytics framework is developed incorporating process and data attributes to support decision making. Using Design Science as the research methodology, a novel framework with a supporting IT artefact is built and presented with early evaluation results. The resulting multi perspective supply chain analytics framework equips practitioners to identify strategic issues, providing important decision support information. The case study further illustrates the framework has applicability across all integrated food supply chains. This research has highlighted gaps in the application of process science to the supply chain management domain, particularly in the area of simultaneous assessment of process and data. The outcomes contribute to research in this domain providing a framework that will enhance the significant reference modelling and operational management work that has occurred in this field.</p