A system for monitoring a cement that undergoes polymerization during
curing such as most bone and dental cements by passing an electrical
signal through the cement to determine the swelling phase, the initiation
of polymerization of the cement and the effective working phase. The
system further can control the swelling phase to reduce the time from the
mixing of the cement to the initiation of the polymerization by using a
ultrasonic signal or by heating the cement and can control the effective
working phase after the polymerization has been initiated in order to
prolong the working phase by cooling the cement.