title: Modeling the electromechanical impedance technique for the assessment of dental implant stability.
abstract: We simulated the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique to assess the stability of dental implants. The technique consists of bonding a piezoelectric transducer to the element to be monitored. When subjected to an electric field, the transducer induces structural excitations which, in turn, affect the transducer's electrical admittance. As the structural vibrations depend on the mechanical impedance of the element, the measurement of the transducer's admittance can be exploited to assess the element's health. In the study presented in this paper, we created a 3D finite element model to mimic a transducer bonded to the abutment of a dental implant placed in a host bone site. We simulated the healing that occurs after surgery by changing Young's modulus of the bone-implant interface. The results show that as Young's modulus of the interface increases, i.e. as the mechanical interlock of the implant within the bone is achieved, the electromechanical characteristic of the transducer changes. The model and the findings of this numerical study may be used in the future to predict and interpret experimental data, and to develop a robust and cost-effective method for the assessment of primary and secondary dental implant stability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, Aerospace and Materials Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze - Ed. 8-90128, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: emma.lamalfaribolla@unipa.it.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: LaMalfa Ribolla
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 729 Benedum Hall, 3700 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. Electronic address: pir3@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Piervincenzo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rizzo
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones; D015921:Dental Implants; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D017097:Electric Impedance; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016348:Osseointegration
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants
keywords: Dental implants; Dental stability; Electromechanical impedance method; Finite element method; Osseointegration