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
- Implantable battery is charged up by the body's oxygen supplyon March 27, 2024 at 8:03 am
Many medical implants run on batteries that need to be recharged, but what if you could do so just by breathing?
- New battery-free implant allows users to monitor their bladder fullness in real timeon March 26, 2024 at 1:26 pm
A new implant and associated smartphone app may someday remove ... Just last month, Ameer and Sharma introduced a biodegradable synthetic, flexible "bladder patch," which was published in PNAS Nexus.
- This implant will tell a smartphone app when you need to peeon March 25, 2024 at 12:01 pm
[Related: This drug-delivery soft robot may help solve medical implants’ scar tissue problem ... The team is also testing a separate, biodegradable “patch” using a patient’s own stem cells. Called a ...
- Go with the flow: Battery-free bladder sensor offers filling detectionon March 25, 2024 at 12:01 pm
Researchers have developed a new soft, flexible, battery-free implant that sticks to the bladder wall to detect fullness.
- This implant will tell a smartphone app when you need to peeon March 25, 2024 at 12:01 pm
[Related: This drug-delivery soft robot may help solve medical implants’ scar tissue problem ... The team is also testing a separate, biodegradable “patch” using a patient’s own ...
- New implant and app enable patients to monitor bladder functionon March 25, 2024 at 12:01 pm
Should you run to the bathroom now? Or can you hold it until you get home? A new implant and associated smartphone app may someday remove the guesswork from the equation.
- Inside information: Bioretec's RemeOs(TM) biodegradable magnesium alloy composition has been allowed a patent by the U.S. Patent officeon March 21, 2024 at 12:00 pm
TAMPERE, Finland, March 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioretec Ltd., a pioneer in biodegradable orthopedic implants, has been allowed a patent by the U.S. patent office for its RemeOs™ magnesium alloy ...
- Inside information: Bioretec's RemeOs biodegradable magnesium alloy composition has been allowed a patent by the U.S. Patent officeon March 21, 2024 at 11:19 am
Bioretec Ltd Inside information 21 March 2024 at 7:00 p.m. EET TAMPERE, Finland, March 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioretec Ltd., a pioneer in biodegradable orthopedic implants, has been allowed ...
- Inside information: Bioretec's RemeOs™ biodegradable magnesium alloy composition has been allowed a patent by the U.S. Patent officeon March 21, 2024 at 10:52 am
Bioretec Ltd Inside information 21 March 2024 at 7:00 p.m. EET TAMPERE, Finland, March 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioretec Ltd., a pioneer in biodegradable orthopedic implants, has been allowed a patent ...
- Understanding Cochlear Implantson March 20, 2024 at 5:00 pm
What Is a Cochlear Implant? A cochlear implant (CI) is an electronic device designed to help you hear better if you're deaf, partially deaf, or have trouble understanding speech. It has two parts ...
via Bing News