Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2025
Keywords
Energy harvesting, Triboelectric, Porous struc- ture, Knee implant, biomedical sensor, Electrical model of TENG
Abstract
This study addresses the critical need for self-powered, durable pressure sensors in Total Knee Replacement (TKR) implants to enable the collection of post-operative information. The scope of this research encompasses the design, development, and testing of a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) integrated into an instrumented knee implant for energy harvesting and pressure sensing. The authors’ unique approach involves utilizing a porous silicone rubber as a dielectric material. This allows the TENG to withstand forces up to 2000 N and generate a maximum power output of 18 μW. Theoretical modeling combined with experimental validation provides deeper insight into the fundamental operating principles. We elucidate the TENG output performance under an MTS servo-hydraulic load frame compared with a VIVO joint simulator. Other important characteristics, such as load sensitivity and the influence of porosity, are also presented. The proposed TENG shows great potential as a pressure sensor in TKR applications, offering high sensitivity, stability, and low cost.
Publisher Attribution
© 2025 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
This is the accepted version of the article published in IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics. DOI: 10.1109/TMECH.2025.3650092
Recommended Citation
Mahmoudi, Elham; Redgrift, Adam Garry; Salman, Emre; Stanacevic, Milutin; Willing, Ryan; and Towfighian, Shahrzad, "Porous Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Load Sensing of Total Knee Replacement" (2025). Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship. 55.
https://orb.binghamton.edu/mechanical_fac/55
