JP2017153830A - Device for monitoring repair state of fracture and monitoring method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To readily and correctly grasp a repair state of a bone fracture part.SOLUTION: A device for monitoring a repair state of fracture measures flexure of a fixing plate 12 for fixing a bone fracture part 11 and determines the repair state of the bone fracture part 11 based on the measured value of the flexure to readily and correctly grasp the repair state of the bone fracture part 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for monitoring a repaired state of a fracture portion.

  Conventionally, in the treatment of fractures in animals, after repairing a fixing plate to a fractured part by a veterinarian, the repaired state of the fractured part has been regularly confirmed by X-rays. In some cases, the activity state of the animal's daily life is monitored to determine the repaired state of the fracture.

  When the activity state of an animal is measured continuously for a certain period, data that can grasp the direction and movement of the animal is calculated from the signal of the three-dimensional acceleration sensor attached to the animal, and the momentum index is obtained from the signal of the acceleration sensor. A monitoring device that can grasp the intensity of animal movement by calculating data was used.

  In the conventional monitoring apparatus, the activity state of the animal such as walking can be grasped from the direction and the amount of exercise of the animal obtained from the signal of the three-dimensional acceleration sensor. By grasping the activity state of the animal in this way, in the process of fracture treatment, in the state where the fracture part is not repaired at all, the animal's broken leg is not attached to the ground during walking. By detecting the behavior, it is possible to detect a state in which the fracture portion is not repaired (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-217928

  However, according to the conventional monitoring device, in the state where repair of the fractured part is in progress, there is no problem in the walking state because the fractured part is supported by a fixing plate that fixes the broken bone and the bone, It was difficult to judge whether the bone was being repaired and supported by the bone in a fused state. In other words, it is difficult to diagnose the exact repaired state of the fracture because only the repaired state of the fracture is inferred from the activity state of the animal. In particular, it is difficult to determine whether the fracture is in a repaired state by simply monitoring the activity of the animal, and it is necessary to rely on X-rays or the like to grasp the repaired state of the fracture. Had problems.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to easily and accurately grasp the repaired state of a fractured portion.

  In order to achieve the above object, a fracture repair monitoring device according to the present invention includes a fixation plate for fixing a fracture portion of an animal bone, a strain sensor disposed on the fixation plate, and a measurement performed by the strain sensor. And an analysis system for determining a repaired state of the fracture from the measured value of strain of the fixed plate.

  The fracture repair state monitoring method of the present invention includes a step of setting a threshold in advance according to a repair state of a fracture portion of a bone of a non-human animal, and measuring a strain of a fixed plate fixed to the fracture portion. And a step of comparing the measured value of the strain with the threshold value to determine the repaired state of the fractured part.

  As described above, it is possible to easily and accurately grasp the repaired state of the fractured part by measuring the strain of the fixation plate that fixes the fractured part and determining the repaired state of the fractured part from the measured strain value.

The figure which illustrates the fixation state of the fracture part in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of the strain sensor arrange | positioned at the fixed plate in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the structural example of the monitoring apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which illustrates the flow of the monitoring method in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which illustrates the calculation method of the distortion maximum value J in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which illustrates the relationship between the threshold value and the value of distortion in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which illustrates the time-dependent change of the value of distortion in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which illustrates a mode that a dog's daily exercise amount is estimated from the measurement result of distortion in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which illustrates the fixation state of the fracture part in Embodiment 2 of this invention The figure which illustrates the projection shape of the fixed plate in Embodiment 2 of this invention The figure which illustrates the projection shape of the fixed plate in Embodiment 2 of this invention

Hereinafter, a fracture repair monitoring apparatus and monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking a dog fracture treatment process as an example.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a plate fixing method in the treatment of a fracture of a dog, and shows a state in which a fractured bone is fixed with a plate. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an example of the arrangement state of the strain sensor of the present invention, and shows a plan view and a side view of the fixed plate.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when treating a fracture, first, the fractured bone is returned to the original position (normal position) of the fractured bone at the fracture portion 11. Furthermore, the fixing plate 12 is brought into close contact with the fractured bone across the fractured portion 11, and the fixing plate 12 and the fractured bone are screwed together by a plurality of fixing screws 14 and 15, whereby the fixing plate 12 is fractured bone. Fixed to. The strain sensor 13 is attached to the fixed plate 12 and detects deformation of the fixed plate 12 that occurs when a load is applied to the fixed plate 12 due to a motion such as walking. As shown in FIG. 2, the strain sensor 13 is disposed on a surface opposite to the surface facing the fractured portion 11 of the fixed plate 12, and is disposed at a position where the deformation amount of the fixed plate 12 increases when a load is applied.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a monitoring device for observing the healing process of a fracture, and shows a state where a leg of a dog, which is an example of an animal, is broken.
The strain sensor arranged on the fixed plate described in FIG. 1 is attached to the fracture treatment unit 50. The memory device 51 is attached in the vicinity of the fracture treatment unit 50 such as a leg, and temporarily stores a strain sensor signal as measurement data. The memory device 51 includes a transmitter (not shown) that transmits stored data to the analysis system 52 wirelessly or by wire. A transmitter (not shown) may be provided outside the memory device 51. The monitoring device includes a strain sensor, a memory device 51, and an analysis system 52. The analysis system 52 analyzes the repair state of the fracture from the measurement data. The analysis system 52 graphs the measurement data, calculates a strain maximum value J, which will be described later, a strain data calculation unit 53, a repair state determination unit 54 that determines the repair state of the fractured part, and stores strain sensor measurement data and graphs And a data storage unit 55. The repair state determination unit 54 is preset with one or more threshold values. The threshold value indicates a strain value corresponding to the repaired state of the fracture portion. The repair state determination unit 54 compares these threshold values with the measured strain value, and determines the repair state of the fracture from the magnitude relationship with the threshold values. The repair state determination unit 54 includes an arithmetic device (not shown) such as a CPU, and performs such determination processing. In addition, the analysis system 52 displays an input device 61 for performing input operations of various setting values such as setting of a threshold value, a setting screen for inputting setting values, and a determination result analyzed from measurement data of the strain sensor. A device 60 can also be provided. The analysis system 52 can also be attached to a target animal. In this case, the input device 61 and the display device 60 are configured to be connected only when necessary.

  Note that the analysis system 52 is not limited to the configuration including the strain data calculation unit 53, the repair state determination unit 54, and the data storage unit 55, but receives at least measurement data from the strain sensor and calculates the maximum strain value J from the measurement data. Any structure may be used as long as it calculates and compares the maximum strain value J with one or more threshold values to determine the repaired state of the fracture.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a flow for monitoring the repaired state of the fractured portion in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of setting a threshold value in the method for monitoring the repaired state of a fractured portion according to the first embodiment, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the strain value and the repaired state, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the number of days elapsed and the strain value, and FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the strain value and the action pattern.

  The strain data is used to determine the repaired state of the fractured part. For example, it is assumed that the strain data is data collected and measured at a fixed time in one day. The measurement is performed, for example, in a state where a load is applied to the fractured part by running or the like. The state where the load is applied is always the same activity state (running, etc.) in order to suppress the difference in strain data due to the difference in the amount of exercise.

Hereinafter, an example of a method for monitoring a repaired state of a fracture according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, strain sensor data is collected under the above preconditions (STEP 1 in FIG. 4) and temporarily stored in the memory device 51 attached to the dog (STEP 2 in FIG. 4). Next, the temporarily stored measurement data is transferred to the analysis system (STEP 3 in FIG. 4). The transferred measurement data is graphed by the distortion data calculation unit 53 (STEP 4 in FIG. 4), and the maximum distortion value J is calculated.

  Here, the maximum strain value J is a value indicating the influence of strain on the fractured part 11. As shown in FIG. 5, the measured strain value changes over time. The maximum distortion value J is obtained by counting, for example, 10 points in descending order of distortion data and averaging them within a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) set in advance. The calculated maximum strain value J is stored in the data storage unit 55 in the analysis system 52 as the maximum strain value J for determining the repair state of the fractured part 11 (STEP 5 in FIG. 4).

  Next, the repair state determination unit 54 compares the threshold set in advance with the calculated maximum distortion value J. For example, a plurality of threshold values are set, and a threshold value corresponding to the degree of repair is set as the magnitude of distortion corresponding to the degree of repair of the fractured part 11. As shown in FIG. 6, when the bone is not repaired, the weight is supported by the fixed plate 12, so that a load is applied to the fixed plate 12 side and the strain data becomes large. As bone repair progresses, both the bone and the fixation plate 12 support the weight, and the load on the fixation plate 12 gradually decreases. Based on such a tendency, for example, four threshold values J1 to J4 are set such that J1> J2> J3> J4. These threshold values are 50% or less when the maximum strain value J is J ≧ J1, more than 50% when J1> J ≧ J2, and 70% when J2> J ≧ J3. Greater than 80%, J3> J ≧ J4 is set to be greater than the repair rate 80 and less than 90%, and when J <J4, recovery is set. Then, the repair state is determined by comparing the maximum strain value J with the threshold values J1 to J4 and confirming in which range the maximum strain value J falls (STEP6-1 to STEP10 in FIG. 4). Note that the threshold value may be simply compared with the measured value of the strain instead of the maximum strain value J. Further, instead of which range of the threshold value the strain maximum value J or the strain measurement value falls within, the threshold value closest to the threshold value may be detected, and the repair rate corresponding to the threshold value may be used as the determination result. The threshold for determining the bone repair state is preferably set to an appropriate value for each individual because the bone repair speed varies depending on individual differences such as the thickness of the fractured bone, the fracture location, the dog breed and age, etc. .

  Further, by continuously monitoring the data of the maximum strain value J, it is possible to graph the change in the strain value of the fixed plate 12 in the process of recovery after the fixed plate 12 is mounted as shown in FIG. Since the strain value decreases with time, the process of improving the repaired state of the fractured part 11 over time can be grasped. Therefore, based on the measurement data of the strain sensor 13, appropriate rehabilitation according to the repaired state can be performed. It is also possible to do this. Even if something is wrong, it is possible to judge the state of repair more quantitatively by looking at the graph.

  Further, by analyzing the collected measurement data of the strain sensor, it is possible to grasp the behavior pattern of the dog. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, depending on the magnitude of distortion and the manner of change in distortion, the behavior of the dog depending on whether the dog is sleeping most of the day, whether it is in a stationary state, or in an operating state. The activity status of a rough dog such as whether or not it is As described above, when there is an abnormality in the repair status data of the fractured part 11 based on a change in strain that is monitored daily, the cause of the abnormality can be estimated from the activity state, such as whether or not intense exercise is performed on a daily basis. it can.

  By measuring the load on the fractured part with a strain sensor as described above, the progress of the repaired state of the fractured part can be monitored during the period from the start of fracture treatment to the recovery of the bone while minimizing the confirmation with X-rays. It becomes possible to grasp easily and accurately on a daily basis. In addition, the behavior of the target animal can be predicted, and the results of the treatment policy and rehabilitation policy can be fed back. In addition, if there is an abnormality in the repaired state, the cause of the abnormality can be estimated from the expected daily behavior, and this can be used as an aid to treatment.

(Embodiment 2)
When fixing a broken bone using a fixing plate in fracture treatment, it is difficult to form a callus if the fixing plate is in close contact with the fracture. Since the bone is repaired by forming a callus at the fractured part, if the callus is not formed on the entire fractured part, repair of the fractured part will be incomplete, and there is a possibility of re-fracturing when the fixation plate is removed. Get higher. Also, if the fixation plate is fixed to the bone for a long period of time, the bone may become thin even if it is thin, and the possibility of re-breaking increases.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the shape of the fixed plate according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 10 and 11 are diagrams illustrating the configuration of the protrusion shape in the second embodiment. 9 to 11, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  In the monitoring device of the repaired state of the fracture in the second embodiment, the screw portion for screwing the fixing plate 22 and the broken bone 21 is, for example, the fixing force adjusting screw 16 having a structure capable of adjusting the fixing force. When adjusting the fixing force with the fixing force adjusting screw 16, it is preferable that the head of the fixing force adjusting screw 16 is exposed from the skin so that the adjusting force can be adjusted without incision. For the screwing between the fixing plate 22 and the broken bone 21, the fixing screws 14 and 15 may be used as all the screws, the fixing force adjusting screw 16 may be used as all the screws, 15 and the fixing force adjusting screw 16 may be combined.

  The fixing plate 22 includes a plurality of non-adherent shape portions 12a that do not adhere to the fractured portion 11 and a surface of the broken bone 21 so as not to hinder formation of the callus 23 of the fractured portion 11 and bone repair. Projection shape 12b. The non-adherent shape portion 12a is a concave portion of the fixed plate 22 provided on the fixed plate 22 so that the fracture portion 11 and the fixed plate 22 are not in contact with each other. In the non-contact shape portion 12a, a gap is formed between the bone 21 and the fixing plate 22, and the bone 21 and the fixing plate 22 do not contact each other. The protrusion shape 12 b is a protrusion provided on the facing surface facing the bone 21 of the fixing plate 22. By providing the projection shape 12 b, when the fixing plate 22 is mounted on the bone 21, the fixing plate 22 contacts the bone 21 only at the tip of the projection shape 12 b, and the entire opposite surface of the fixing plate 22 contacts the bone 21. A moderate gap is formed without any problems. As described above, since the fixing plate 22 includes the non-contact shape portion 12a, the fracture portion 21 and the fixing plate 22 are not in contact with each other, so that the formation of the temporary bone 23 in the fracture portion 11 is not inhibited. Further, since the fixing plate 22 includes the protrusion shape 12b, it is possible to suppress the bone repair from being inhibited. The strain sensor 13 is preferably formed on the back surface of the fixing plate 12 with respect to the surface on which the non-contact shape portion 12a is formed, but may be provided in a region that does not contact the bone 21 and does not interfere with the fixing screw. Although a configuration including both the non-contact shape portion 12a and the projection shape 12b is mentioned, a configuration including either one may be employed.

  In the fracture repair monitoring apparatus according to the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the strain of the fixation plate 22 that fixes the fractured part 11 is measured, and the repaired state of the fractured part 11 is determined from the measured strain value. By determining, the repaired state of the fractured part 11 can be grasped easily and accurately. Furthermore, the repaired state of the fractured part 11 is a state in which the fixing plate 22 and the bone of the fractured part 11 are fixed, and strain data is measured to determine the repaired state. I can grasp it.

  The protrusion shape 12 b preferably has a larger elastic force than the fixed plate 22. According to the repair state of the fractured part 11 determined from the data of the strain sensor 13 arranged on the fixing plate 22, for example, when the repair rate is determined to be 70 to 80%, the fixing force adjusting screw 16 is loosened to increase the fixing force. Reduce. At that time, as shown in FIG. 11, since the plurality of projection shapes 12b are elastically deformed, the contact area between the broken bone 21 and the projection shape 12b is reduced, and the fixing force can be easily reduced. Repair is difficult to be inhibited. In addition, the fixing force adjusting screw 16 can be prevented from loosening due to the resilience of the elastic deformation of the plurality of protrusion shapes 12b.

  In the treatment of fractures, it is known that when an appropriate load is applied to a callus formed in the bone repair process, bone healing is promoted. Therefore, by applying a load according to the repaired state of the fractured part 11, the effect of promoting bone repair is improved, the early recovery of the fractured part 11 is expected, and the risk of re-breaking is suppressed.

  In addition, in each said embodiment, it can use for the confirmation of the repair condition of the fracture of not only a dog but all animals.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can grasp the repaired state of a fractured part easily and accurately, and is useful for an apparatus and a method for monitoring the repaired state of a fractured part.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Fracture part 12 Fixing plate 12a Non-contact | adherence shape part 12b Protrusion shape 13 Strain sensor 14 Fixing screw 15 Fixing screw 16 Fixing force adjustment screw 21 Bone 22 Fixing plate 23 Temporary bone 50 Fracture treatment part 51 Memory device 52 Analysis system 53 Strain data calculation Unit 54 repair state determination unit 55 data storage unit 60 display device 61 input device

Claims (10)

A fixation plate for fixing fractures of animal bones;
A strain sensor disposed on the fixed plate;
An apparatus for monitoring the repair state of a fracture, comprising: an analysis system that determines a repair state of the fracture from a measurement value of strain of the fixed plate measured by the strain sensor.   2. The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the repair state of the fracture portion is determined by comparing a threshold value set in advance according to the repair state of the fracture portion and the measured value. The fracture fracture monitoring device described.   3. The fracture according to claim 1, wherein the analysis system includes a calculation unit that graphs a change in the measurement value, and a repair state determination unit that determines a repair state of the fracture part. Repair status monitoring device.   The fixing plate has a concave non-contact shape portion formed on a surface facing the bone, and has a gap between the bone and the surface of the fixing plate at the non-contact shape portion. The fracture repair state monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   2. The fixing plate according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of fixing screws for screwing the fixing plate and the bone, wherein at least one of the fixing screws is a fixing force adjusting screw having a structure capable of adjusting a fixing force. The fracture monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 5.   The fracture fixing state monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the fixing plate further includes a plurality of protrusions formed on a surface facing the bone.   The fixing plate is formed on a surface facing the bone and has a plurality of protrusion shapes having a larger elastic force than the fixing plate, and when the fixing force of the bone and the fixing plate is weakened by the fixing force adjusting screw, 6. The fracture repair state monitoring device according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of protrusion shapes are elastically deformed, and a contact area between the plurality of protrusion shapes and the bone surface is reduced. A step of setting a threshold in advance according to the repair state of the fracture portion of the bone of the non-human animal,
Measuring the strain of the fixation plate fixed to the fracture,
A method for monitoring a repaired state of a fracture, comprising the step of comparing the measured value of the strain and the threshold to determine the repaired state of the fracture. A plurality of the threshold values are set;
The fracture repair state monitoring method according to claim 8, wherein the repair state of the fracture portion is determined based on whether the measurement value is located between two adjacent threshold values. A plurality of the threshold values are set;
The fracture repair state monitoring method according to claim 8, wherein a repair state of the fracture portion corresponding to the threshold value closest to the measured value is obtained as a determination result.

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