Technical Overview of Osseointegrated Transfemoral Prostheses: Orthopedic Surgery and Implant Design Centered

Abstract

Bone-anchored prostheses represent a promising solution to numerous medical complications associated with conventional socket-suspended prostheses. The following technical overview was constructed for engineers and orthopedic surgeons interested in osseointegrated implants for transfemoral prosthesis-residuum interfacing. Existing osseointegrated implants comprise different biomaterial compositions (i.e., titanium alloy versus cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy) and mechanical designs (i.e., screw-fixated versus press-fixated devices). Perioperative systems of osseointegration surgery include preoperative assessments (i.e., alongside inclusion and exclusion criteria), intraoperative procedures, and postoperative rehabilitation (i.e., static loading and dynamic gait rehabilitation). The intraoperative procedures involve transecting and reorganizing the residual musculature, embedding the implant into the femoral intramedullary cavity, and coupling the osseointegrated implant to an external prosthesis. Postoperative clinical evaluations have demonstrated significant biomechanical, psychological, and physiological improvements in patients using bone-anchored prostheses compared to conventional socket-suspended prostheses. Nevertheless, bacterial infections surrounding the skin-implant bio-interface, often resulting from Staphylococcus aureus or other coagulase-negative staphylococci, remain a relatively frequent medical complication, which can culminate in periprosthetic osteomyelitis and/or implant extraction. The technical overview concludes with discussing the recent Food and Drug Administration humanitarian use device designations, financial analyses between bone-anchored prostheses and socket-suspended prostheses, and applications of vibrotactile osseoperception for augmenting walking and balance feedback control.