A plastic derived from cornstarch combined with a volcanic ash compound, Montmorillonite clay, could help heal the bones of hundreds of thousands of patients with orthopedic injuries who need bone replacement after tumor removal, spinal fusion surgery or fracture repair.
Researchers at Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak will publish their preclinical findings in the journal Nanomedicine. Kevin Baker, Ph.D., director, Beaumont Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, worked on the study with Rangaramanujam Kannan, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins, formerly with Wayne State University.Traditional bone graft procedures require surgeons to remove bone from another part of the patient’s body to heal the affected area and encourage new bone growth. Harvesting a patient’s bone can result in complications at the harvest site. Some surgeons also use bone donated from cadavers. However, there is a limited supply of donor bones available.
Using a synthetic material will likely lead to a reduction in the surgery complication rate. The patient will only need to heal from one surgery because harvesting bone would not be necessary.
The goal is to use the material without any additional permanent hardware placed in a patient’s body. Current procedures often require a metal or non-resorbable plastic implant because traditional bone grafts are not strong enough without the added support.
“This improves outcomes for the patient because internal hardware can pose a challenge with respect to being a potential site for infection, and can complicate MRI and CT imaging tests. In addition, from the surgeon’s perspective, not having to worry about a large piece of metal or hard plastic in the area may make future procedures easier,” Baker says.
The biodegradable polymer, reinforced with Montmorillonite clay nanoparticles for strength, dissolves in the body within 18 months. As the material dissolves, new bone formation takes its place. The material is created by injecting the polymer-clay mixture with carbon dioxide, resulting in an implant that looks like foam, but is rigid like bone. Researchers designed the bone material to be porous, just like actual human bone.
The material is still in the research phase and likely won’t be available to patients for several years.
Read more: Biodegradable implant could help heal broken bones
The Latest on: Biodegradable implant
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Biodegradable implant” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Biodegradable implant
- Cutaneous and Systemic Hypersensitivity Reactions to Metallic Implantson May 4, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Carlsson and Möller, 1989 20 18 Metal allergic patients, screened before receiving stainless steel orthopedic implants. None had issues despite confirmed allergy to one of the metals in their ...
- Breast implants in cancer scareon May 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Women with breast implants are up to three times more likely to die from lung or brain cancer than those without, it was reported today. The findings come after a long-running US study of 13,500 ...
- Woman becomes 1st patient to undergo combined heart pump implant and pig kidney transplanton April 23, 2024 at 11:01 pm
The patient was not considered a candidate for traditional organ transplants. In a first-of-its-kind procedure, a terminally ill patient has become the first person in the world to undergo a gene ...
- My dental implants caused brutal bruising and left me looking like a monsteron April 19, 2024 at 10:41 am
She’s revealing the ugly tooth about her beautiful new teeth. A Texas model says dental implants left her with bruising so bad that she looked like a human “Rorschach inkblot test.” ...
- I was left looking like a monster after I had dental implants - my face became swollen and bruised all overon April 19, 2024 at 3:04 am
A mother has claimed dental implants left her face with the 'worst bruising ever' - leaving her looking like a human 'Rorschach inkblot test'. Jessica Macko, from San Antonio, Texas, had been ...
- Dental Implants Can Have a Huge Impacton April 19, 2024 at 1:57 am
He wasn’t shocked when the neighbor told him that he had received a smile makeover including dental implants. However, he was pleasantly surprised to hear that it was a local dentist that did ...
- Cochlear Implant Surgery: Costs, Benefits And Riskson April 17, 2024 at 2:47 am
Cochlear implants don’t restore a person’s hearing. However, these powerful tools can help those with severe or profound hearing loss hear and process sounds better so they can stay engaged in ...
- The Next Frontier for Brain Implants Is Artificial Visionon April 14, 2024 at 10:00 pm
With the implant, he can perceive people and objects represented in white and iridescent dots. Bussard is one of a small number of blind individuals around the world who have risked brain surgery ...
- Exclusive: Synchron, a rival to Musk’s Neuralink, readies large-scale brain implant trialon April 8, 2024 at 8:48 am
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - Synchron Inc, a rival to Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implant startup, is preparing to recruit patients for a large-scale clinical trial required to seek commercial ...
- Contraceptive implant lodged in woman's lung for six years - and removing it could destroy arteryon April 8, 2024 at 7:01 am
A contraceptive implant has been lodged in woman's lung for six years - and it may leave her unable to have children again. Rebecca Hardy, 29, says she is "emotionally broken" having been told ...
via Bing News