Mechanical performance of an axially mobile plate for fracture fixation.
BACKGROUND
Emphasis of the advantages of secondary bone healing over primary bone healing has led to a trend of moving from rigid fixation to less-rigid fixation. A reduction in axial stiffness of fixators has been shown to be beneficial to bone healing, and many external fixators have been designed that incorporate axial dynamization.


RESULTS
A new axially mobile plate has been designed for long-bone fracture fixation, to give the bone fragments a degree of axial mobility while maintaining bending and torsional stability after fixation. Mechanical bending and torsion tests have been conducted on the axially mobile plate and also on the conventional dynamic compression plate and the limited-contact dynamic compression plate. The results have shown that the new plate is stiffer and stronger in both bending and torsion than at least one of these conventional plates.


CONCLUSIONS
The axially mobile plate has adequate mechanical properties and can be taken forward to clinical trails.
Sun
J
J
University of Dundee, United Kingdom.
Abel
E W
EW
Rowley
D I
DI
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001860:Bone Plates; D004867:Equipment Design; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans