New material mimics bone for better implants

             A major issue with current bone implants is rejection by the body due to the implant being much to rigid. This no longer has to be the case according to Dr. Afsaneh Rabiel, an associate professor and faculty member at NC state. Under his eye researchers have developed a new "foam-lie" porous metal which is lighter than aluminum but can be made of 100% steel (Pictured below)

         The reason why modern implants fail is because they succumb to too much shear stress and allow the bone in the body to rely entirely on the implant until it fails. Due to the elasticity of this new material, it will behave exactly like bone and on account of the porous surface, it will even promote bone attachment and growth inside the material. In order to shed some light on just how effective this composite foam is, one must be familiar with the units of elasticity which is measured in gigapascals (GPa). Titanium for example, a common implant material, has an elasticity of approx 100GPa while bone fluctuates between 10-30GPa. This newly synthesized material matches bones elasticity which will overall improve the structure and stability of the whole system.

       I found this article quite intriguing because when i originally became interested in bioengineering these types of material creation and implementation research projects are exactly what i had in mind. The ability to double or even triple the life of an implant would be immensely beneficial to any who undergo such surgery. No longer would patients have to dread knowing their implant may only last a few years and then this painful expensive process would have to be repeated. It is my dream to be able to improve the quality of the population not on the operating table, but in the laboratory and this type of hot science is exactly what i hope to be doing one day.

Article link here