Every year more than 30 million patients undergo orthopedic surgery, yet their recovery is still largely a blind box. Today, clinicians rely on sporadic X-rays and subjective pain reports to judge whether an implant is overloaded or fusion is progressing well. This uncertainty leads to avoidable Emergency Room (ER) visits, late detection of non-union, and costly revision surgeries.
OrthoSens turns standard orthopedic implants into smart devices. Our first generation of battery-free sensors is already integrated in PEEK implants. With NexUS-Ortho (Next-Gen Ultrasound Sensors for Orthopedic Implants) we focus on the much larger metal segment. The project develops a metal-compatible passive load-sensing lattice that can be read non-invasively by an external ultrasound “ping” and echo, without any implanted electronics or batteries.
The sensing structure is embedded directly into titanium implants during additive manufacturing, so it behaves like part of the implant while providing a measurable shift in the acoustic response under load. NexUS-Ortho will deliver two outcomes: (1) a benchtop-validated ultrasound-readable lattice for spinal fusion cages that can later be adapted to hip and knee implants, and (2) full ISO-13485 certification of our quality management system with a notified body, paving the way to clinical and regulatory adoption.
By licensing this sensing lattice to established implant manufacturers, we enable continuous, objective monitoring of recovery in metal implants, helping to reduce complications and avoidable imaging while supporting the shift to value-based, connected orthopedic care.

NexUS-Ortho builds on OrthoSens’ first-generation passive sensors, which have already been integrated into three proof-of-concept PEEK implants and attracted letters of intent from implant manufacturers.During the InnoBooster project period, we will first implement and certify our ISO-13485 quality management system, including design control procedures covering both generations of sensors. In parallel, we will run numerical and experimental studies on several lattice concepts for titanium implants.