Date: Jun 29, 2012 Source: LinkedIn (
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Gene Merrell Chief Technology Transfer Officer at University of Idaho
University of Idaho researchers have found 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. Physics graduate student Jamie Hass has developed a biofriendly, coated nanospring -- a minuscule silicon dioxide-based structure that resembles a coiled phone cord -- that clings to a prosthetic's metal surface and stimulates, like collagen, bone cell growth in and around an artificial orthopedic device. "The nanosprings act as scaffolding for bone construction," explains Hass, who is also a practicing veterinarian. "Think 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."
