Posted in NEWS, NEWS on skeletal system implants

Bioactive bone replacement from the 3D printer

11 September 2023

The treatment of bone tumors or severe bone injuries often poses major problems for medicine. Titanium, for example, is used as a bone replacement material. There is a risk that the rigid implant will loosen, leading to long-term problems. A second therapeutic approach, he said, is to remove bone material from the pelvis, for example, and transplant it to the damaged area. However, this is then additionally associated with another defect. (Hermann Seitz, University of Rostock).
It has been known for some time that barium titanate, a piezoelectric ceramic, can be used to generate voltage potentials under mechanical pressure. The barium titanate is combined with so-called bioactive glasses. This material is known to release ions when it comes into contact with body fluids, thus developing its bioactivity. This material is mixed with barium titanate and then put into the 3D printer. “We want to have an implant that responds piezoelectrically to mechanical stimuli and is bioactive at the same time.” The goal, he says, is to have bone cells migrate into the porous implant from the adjacent tissue. Once colonization and vascularization have occurred, the implant remains in the body. The implant can be made to fit precisely after digital reconstruction in a 3D printer. It will be many years before this technology clears the hurdle into everyday clinical use.
Author(s)	Source
Nadine Rudolph	Press release Rostock University, 11.09.2023 (german original)
This is a post of a scientific or business information. The information given here is checked thoroughly by “Implant-Register”. However we can´t be responsible for the content. The content usually is shortened to make it understandable for many. Read the linked original text if you are interested. Contact the publisher, if you have questions. You may inform us about changes of the information to improve the Register.
Comments: n/a let us know