Building out on work undertaken as a PhD thesis at the University of Idaho, MJ3 Industries is working on a new way to grow bone on orthopedic implants. The discovery could lead to more durable and better-performing prosthetics and other orthopedic devices used in animals and humans. The firm's principal - also a practicing veternarian - has developed a biofriendly, coated nanospring a minuscule silicon dioxide-based structure that resembles a coiled phone cord that clings to a prosthetics metal surface and stimulates, like collagen, bone cell growth in and around an artificial orthopedic device. From the concept of thinking of the nanosprings as the rebar in a reinforced concrete wall, with this support structure in place, the bone cells can fill in, like cement, and form bone on the prosthesis. This process results in a stronger bond between the existing living bone and the implant. Preliminary studies also suggest that the technology could accelerate healing of the bone by as much as a 33 percent. With the most common cause of failure of an orthopedic device being a weak attachment between the bone and the implant, those implants with the coated nanospring could greatly decrease and potentially eliminate these types of device failures. The coated nanospring, which can be attached and grown directly on implants prior to surgical insertion, could enhance devices used for fractures, limb loss, osteoporosis, dental problems, degenerative bone disease, and other orthopedic conditions. Leading veterinary orthopedic surgeons have already expressed interest in applying the technology to improve prostheses for animals.
