Early detection of fracture healing of a long bone for better mass health care

Detection of the fracture of a bone at site, e.g. during an accident, is a serious problem these days. In the present paper a new technique is presented. It is low cost and electrical in nature. The electrical conductivity of bone varies from the radial direction to the direction parallel to the bone axis. This confirms that the bone has anisotropic electrical behaviour. The induced e.m.f. generated in the bone under electrostatic field is found to vary with the stress applied to the fractured bone. This e.m.f. is directly proportional to the amplitude of the applied d.c. electric field while the d.c. impedance, i.e. resistance, is almost constant over a wide range of the electric field. The fractured bone is completely healed up when the induced e.m.f. in the bone is found to be the same as in the normal bone under constant electric field. The present investigation would assist in better health care as the fracture could be detected at site, well in time