A sensor measuring deformation and pressure, entirely biodegradable, for orthopedic applications

In this paper, we present a highly sensitive sensor, entirely made of biodegradable materials, that can measure both deformation and pressure. This sensor is designed to monitor the progress of tendon repair after surgery, with the objective to provide an appropriate care to each patient based on personalized diagnosis. This is the first time that a biodegradable pressure and strain sensor is presented. Moreover, our device's high sensitivity in the low strain regime and low pressure regime in combination with its fast response time in the millisecond range, and its negligible hysteresis is unprecedented when compared to recent reports on implantable strain and pressure sensors. The pressure sensor performs stably after thousands of cycles. These characteristics allow our pressure sensor to be useful for orthopedics applications.