Neuroprosthetics Technology To Replace Torn Meniscus By Neural Implants

Neuroprosthetics is a combination of neuroscience and biomedical engineering. Neural prostheses is used to replace a missing biological functionality by using neural implants. Throughout the years it has been discovered that the technology is becoming way more advanced. This makes it easier for people with a missing a malfunction is their body to be replaced. The problem of a torn meniscus will be discussed. It will be researched and discussed on how a torn meniscus in a body of a young person can be replaced by neural implants. Also, the issues that will be faced during setting up of a company as an engineer will be discussed. The effects on what it will have for the plans will be evaluated and trying to find solutions against the problem.

A torn meniscus are the most seen and common knee injury. People who play sports on a high level (Athletes) have a higher risk of getting a torn meniscus but still every person with any age can torn their meniscus. There are 3 bones who meet to form your knee joint. Thighbone (Femur), Shinbone (Tibia) and the Kneecap (patella). There are 2 tough and rubbery pieces of cartilage called the Meniscus. They are also called the ‘shock absorbers’. The function of the meniscus is to cushion the joint and to make it stable. It is like a barrier between the bones so that they don’t shed to each other. Meniscus can tea in different ways. It depends on how they look. There is a bucket handle, flap and radial. Most tearings of meniscuses happen during the play of sports. Often athletes squay and/or their twist their knee. This is what causes a torn meniscus. Older people get a degenerative torn meniscus easier. They can create a twist by just standing up from a chair. The reason behind this is because the older in time you get, the thinner and aged a worn tissue gets. When you have a torn meniscus you often hear and feel a pop in your knee when it bends or stretches. A torn meniscus is very painful but you can still walk on it. Most athletes actually still sport on their knee but after a while the knee gets really stiff, painful and swollen. Some of the symptoms of a torn meniscus are feeling pain, having a stiff feeling, your knee starts swelling because it is absorbing to much moisture, your knee might catch or locks and you cannot move your knee in all of its full range of motion. After the discussing the symptoms with your doctor, your doctor will examine your knee. One of the test that doctors use is called the McMurray test. The doctor rotates, bends and stretches out your knee. To see if your knee has a tear your knee should make a clicky sound when doing these exercises that your doctor applies to you.

The treatment of a torn meniscus really depends on its, size location, age and on the type of a tear. Some people may have a blood supply. This is a torn that locates in your bleed. Most of the time this heals by its selves. This sometimes can also be removed with surgery. All surgeries are risk taking but this one is the least one. This is because they simply remove it out of your blood. They do not touch your muscles, bones or organs. This is way it can’t really have a bad effect on your knee. An example of this type of tear is the Longitudinal tear. This is the outside one-third meniscus. The inner 2-thirds of the meniscus has a lack of blood. This means that these parts do not have any blood (called the white zone ‘Blood gives nutrients which cause a healing by its self. Since the white zone does not have any, it can automatically not heal by its self. The cartilages are thin and worn. This is because the pieces can ot grow back. These types of tears are mostly taken away with a surgery by trimming. ” If your tear is small and on the outside edge then you often do not need a surgery.

The RICE protocol is effective for most sports-related injuries. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Rest, take a break from the activity that caused the injury. Your doctor may recommend that you use crutches to avoid putting weight on your leg. Ice, Use cold packs for 20 minutes at a time, several times a day. Do not apply ice directly to the skin. Compression, to prevent additional swelling and blood loss, wear an elastic compression bandage. Elevation, to reduce swelling, recline when you rest, and put your leg up higher than your heart.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines

Drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen reduce pain and swelling might also help”. If the pain is still there and the symptoms are not going away then another option would be to train the muscles that surround your knee more. The Hamstrings, Gluteus, Rectus femoris and the Bastus Letrallis. This is so that the muscles support your pain more and your knee is somewhat protected. For athletes, the first option that gets recommended by their doctor is physical therapy. They can explain you what exercises will be very helpful/useful to decrease the pain.

If the pain still sticks to your knee and the symptoms are still showing after training. The next option would be to take a cortisone injection. This is an injection that reduces the pain. However, there are some side effects to it. The crystals of the injection can cause inflammation. This hurts even more then a torn meniscus. You can get skin discoloration and elevated blood sugar. This injection is only allowed to get it for 2 times max. The reason behind this is because it can cause infections in the knee. Athletes are most likely to get these injections because they do not influence your body as a surgery would do. After following all of these phases and the pain still sticks on and the symptoms are still showing. You’re most likely to get a surgery. This is called the arthroscopic surgery. This type of surgery is the most common performed surgery procedure. A camera is inserted through a portal. This has a clear view of the knee. The surgeon uses miniature surgical instruments through other portals to repair or heal the tear. The damaged tissue is trimmed away. Some meniscus can be repaired by just stitching the torn together. It depends on the tear if the surgery can be performed successfully. The meniscus needs time to repair back after the surgery and so for a bigger tear it is going to take longer to heal, rest and repair after getting a surgery. With the perfect treatment, diagnoses and rehabilitation the meniscus can grow back to its older and healthy state. For some patients these options are not effective enough. That is why there is another solution. The meniscal transplant surgery has a purpose of replacing the meniscus before it gets too damaged. The healthy human donor from the cadaver is taken and it is frozen. This is called the Aloograft. It gets sized, tested and stored. This is very important because if there is a patient who matches those measurments correctly then it is only able to do the transplantation. It is very important that tissue gets tested to see if it has bad bacteria’s, hepatitis b and c and viruses. These transplantations are being used for over 20 years. It is still a ware procedure. The reason for this is because the patient and the tissue has to meet the criteria. There some standarts on rather you are allowed to follow this procedure. Not being obese, there should be activity-related pain constantly, the meniscus that is getting treated should be or missing more than half of the meniscus or it should be a meniscus that cannot be repaired by its self or any other alternatives. The patients should be under 55 years old but above 18. The reason for that being is because under 18 a body is still not full grown yet and there are still hormones playing as a role. This can have a very big and bad impact on your body as result in the future. If the procedure doesn’t go as how it should with a patient under 18, then the patient can get to the point where he/she can get paralyzed. This procedure is the most common surgical procedure as a transplantation.

A small camera gets inserted through the incision. This shows a view of the inside look of the knee. Surgeons use instruments to perform the procedure. On avareger a 2 to 4 incision is made with poke holes. The new tissue inserted into the shinbone to perform the transplant. Stitches are perfomed to sew everything into place correctly. However there are some risks on doing this surgery. One of the most common effects is stiffness, reoperation and incomplete healing. These risks can lead to paraylzation and/or infections. There is a change that the patients gets an infection (1 in 800. 00 chance ) and by getting HIV because of the tissue that gets placed into your knee ( 1 in 16 million ). Most of these procedures are performed on athletes who are under 18. the risk of doing it underaged is that it can have even worst effects on your body when getting older. However if a patient is in this situation then in it really depends on what a patient and the parents want. Also, the doctor really examines you detailed to see if you really need a transplantation like this.

However deciding rather the patient is willing to pursue this surgery is a very big decision to make. Meniscal transplantations are not cheap. The price depends on the damage. The average price in the United Sates are between 10. 000-30. 000 dollar. Not everyone has the money for these kinds of procedures. Some surgeries in areas are in costs very low like in India. People can save more than thousands of dollars if they travel to India for the procedure. The costs in India are up to 4. 000-8000 dollars. This price also includes hospitalization costs.