Smart Coating Opens Door to Safer Hip, Knee and Dental Implants

This bonding also makes the implant more functional

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a “smart coating” that helps surgical implants bond more closely with bone and ward off infection.

When patients have hip, knee or dental replacement surgery, they run the risk of having their bodies reject the implant. But the smart coating developed at NC State mitigates that risk by fostering bone growth into the implant. The coating creates a crystalline layer next to the implant, and a mostly amorphous outer layer that touches the surrounding bone. The amorphous layer dissolves over time, releasing calcium and phosphate, which encourages bone growth.

“The bone grows into the coating as the amorphous layer dissolves, resulting in improved bonding, or osseointegration,” says Dr. Afsaneh Rabiei, an NC State associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, associate faculty member of biomedical engineering and co-author of a paper describing the research. This bonding also makes the implant more functional, because the bonding helps ensure that the bone and the implant do a better job of sharing the load.