Researchers supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, report they have harnessed the unique physics of sea water as it freezes to guide the production of what could be a new generation of more biocompatible materials for artificial bone.
As published in the January 27 issue of the journal Science, the researchers used this novel technique to produce a thinly layered composite, or hybrid, structure that more closely mimics the natural scaffolding of bone. The scientists said their initial, proof-of-principle scaffolds are desirably ultra lightweight and up to four times stronger than current porous ceramic implant materials.
According to Dr. Antoni Tomsia, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. and senior author on the paper, the still nameless freezing technique, with further technical refinements, could churn out even stronger materials and could be scaled up to fabricate larger structures, such as replacement hips and knees and a variety of dental materials.
He also noted that it easily could be adapted to make layered composites for variety of industrial purposes, ranging from airplane manufacturing to computer hardware. Freezing is the engine that drives the production process, said Tomsia. But the engine is undiscriminating in the composites or polymers that it fabricates.