LAUSR

Dental implants are widely used clinically but implant failures, which may have dramatic consequences, still occur and remain difficult to anticipate. Accurate measurements of implants biomechanical stability are of interest since they could be used to improve the surgical strategy. The aim of this work is to develop a medical device capable of estimating dental implant stability using quantitative ultrasound. To do so, our approach consists in coupling modeling and experimental methods. Firstly, an implant was initially completely inserted in the proximal part of a bovine humeral bone sample. The 10 MHz ultrasonic response of the implant is then measured and a quantitative indicator is derived. Then, the implant is unscrewed by 2 π radians and the measurement was realized again. The value of indicator significantly increases as a function of the number of rotation. The results show that bone quantity in contact with the implant has a significant influence on its ultrasonic response. Secondly, a 3D finite...