The material created at the Warsaw University of Technology will help rebuild bones
Researchers at the Warsaw University of Technology have developed a porous material that acts as a scaffold to help rebuild bones. The inconspicuous sponge is superior to other bone substitutes in that it can be tailored to the shape of the bone defect at the time of surgery.
The material developed at the Department of Chemistry of the Warsaw University of Technology is lightweight, flexible and can be soaked in water, and thus rohe biological components. Although it is made of the same material used for 3D printing, it has completely different characteristics.
– The material is made of a lactic acid-based polymer, ktory naturally occurs in our body. The implant should decompose in this body after some time, explains Dr. Agnieszka Gadomska-Gajadhur from the Department of Chemistry at the Warsaw University of Technology in an interview with the Polish Press Agency.
In today’s medicine, implants are commonly used to help people who have a broken bone return to full functionorych for some reason is missing some bone tissue. If bone damage won’t repair itself, doctors must somehowob get the body to do the job. And it is in such cases that a special implant is placed in the tissue.
In the age of 3D printing technology, it is best to print an implant, but this solution has some limitations. Of course, the biggest advantage is to get any customized shape for a particular defect seen in the X-ray image. However, 3D printing takes several hours, so there is no way to adjust the size of the implant in an operating room setting. Therefore, such an implant must be prepared prior to the procedure. Researchers at PW have developed a solution that ktore can be applied during the operation.
The result of their work looks quite inconspicuous – it is a small oval foam with a volume of about 10 centimeteroin cubic meters, weighing less than one gram. – The lightness of this material is determined by its porosity – there are a lot of hollow, interconnected tubules in the materialow. These tubules are very important because our material is intended to serve as a scaffold for comore of rebuilding bone. ComoSo, first of all, these mats must fit in, and secondly, we must include an outlet for the productoin the metabolism of comorek – explains in an interview with PAP Monika Budnicka, a PhD student at the Warsaw University of Technology and head of theoinna tworczyni implant.
– The orthopedist opens the sterile implant and begins to operate. If it has a larger cavity, it puts in a larger portion. If smaller, he cuts it to shape, decides on the size of the implant during surgery,” describes Dr. Gadomska-Gajadhur. At the same time, he adds, the implant can also be inserted using an endoscopic technique, i.e. through small incisions.
The invention has successfully passed through the testing phase in the laboratory. However, in order to think about bringing it to market, it needs to be researched further – but for that, more funding is needed. – Foreign companies are expressing interest in the idea – although we, of course, would most like to attract a Polish company as an investor, since it is a Polish invention, the researchers admit.