Modeling of a sensor used for RFA based dental implant stability measurement

The objective of the present study is to model a sensor used for determination of dental implant stability using resonance frequency analysis. The aim of modelling is to identify the parameters that affect its response so that the model could be used to suggest better design of the sensor. The sensor system consists of a piezo element attached to a metallic strip with some adhesive. The response of the sensor is highly dependent on the shape and size of the piezo element as well as on the shape and size of the metallic strip attached to it. Three different shapes of the metallic strip, namely circular type, cross type and L type, are glued onto a thin radial piezo element. To validate the model, experimental studies have been done using all three different designs of the sensor. The average responses of the sensors obtained experimentally, the simulated responses obtained using the model and the corresponding error curves have been compared and certain parameters have been identified which affect the sensor performance.