Engineered System I. Craniofacial and Orthopedic Applications

 

This engineered system investigates the use of biocompatible metals and alloys as hard tissue substitutes.The low corrosion resistance of Mg, especially in electrolytic and aqueous environments becomes useful for biomaterial applications, where the in vivo corrosion of magnesium involves stimulatory effects on the growth of new bone tissue. ES1 research focuses on facilitating the growth of new bone tissue and the functional integrity of hard tissue implanted devices during bone tissue healing. Mg and Mg-based alloys can also be coated with bioresorbable ceramics and novel signaling biomolecules including: growth factors, DNA and proteins, and polymers. Integration of ES1 research with advancements in biosensor technology will result in the development of “smart” hard tissue biomaterials where controlled corrosion can be “triggered” once the regeneration process of the mineralized tissue has advanced to an acceptable level of maturation.

 

Current Projects

New Materials Development

  • Alloy Design Using First Principles Density Functional Theory and Ab-initio Calculations
  • Processing of Novel Porous and Nonporous Biodegradable Magnesium Alloys
  • Processing of Bulk Amorphous and Polycrystalline Magnesium-based Alloys
  • Processing of Porous and Non Porous 3D Biodegradable Metallic Alloys
  • Development of Metallic and Ceramic Coatings for Implant Application

Materials Processing, Characterization and Modeling

  • Use of Phage Display to Design Coating Peptides with High Affinity Magnesium Alloys
  • Biomimetic Coating of Mg Based Alloys for Enhanced Bone Regeneration and Resorption Control
  • Metal on Metal Coatings
  • Natural Polymers and Self Assembled Peptide Coatings
  • Biocompatible Ceramic Coatings
  • Functional Thin Film Coatings for Metallic Biomaterials
  • Computational Analysis of Degradable Orthopaedic Devices

Biocompatibility Testing

  • Coordination of Toxicology and Biocompatibility Testing
  • Development of an in vitro Test Bed for Degradable Metals using Dynamic Culture, Biosensors and Systems Biology Approaches

Medical Systems R&D:  Device / Application

  • The Development of Magnesium-Based Screws for Orthopaedic Surgery
  • A Magnesium-Based Ring for Mechanical Augmentation of a Torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament
  • Craniofacial screws and Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) Prosthetic
  • Magnesium Plates and Screws for Bone Fracture Fixation
  • ERC-RMB Materials Database