application of the tibial tray the preferred embodiment places the sensor package underneath the tibial tray such that it does not interfere with the polyethylene insert of mobile bearing prosthesis the sensor package could easily be located underneath the bearing surface in fixed bearing components or molded into the polyethylene component as well microcantilevers have been used to measure very precise changes in temperature often these cantilevers are coated with a material such as gold which causes the microcantilever to undergo bimaterial bending a temperature sensing cantilever will be included in the prosthesis diagnostic sensor suite measurement of temperature of the prosthesis will give indication of the presence of conditions such as infection or noninfectious inflammatory syndromes causing joint synovitis such as rheumatoid arthritis soft tissue impingement or friction syndromes etc if the patient is not currently in an active mode the measurement of temperature can also be used to measure frictional heating of the prosthesis component frictional heating is another indication of wear and has been suggested as a cause in prosthesis failure infection is one of the most clinically devastating complications of any major surgical procedure post operative infection clinically referred to as deep wound infection dwi is a particularly serious threat occurring in procedures such as total joint replacement organ transplant and other surgical procedures in which a foreign material is implanted into the body the presence of the foreign material allows bacterial proliferation which is more difficult to eradicate with traditional antibiotic treatment regimens than in infections in which foreign materials are not present subsequently an infected total joint replacement requires implant removal in order to eradicate the infection in a substantial percentage of cases one of the keys of infection eradication without implant removal.