A biornaterial based on coral's structure to set broken bones
A MATERIAL developed by a group of
materials scientists and surgeons may
take away much of the pain in treating
fractures. Led by Brent Constantz of the
Norian Corp. in Cupertino, California,
the team claims that Norian SRS (SRs
stands for skeletal repair system) can be
prepared as a paste which could be used
to fill up the fracture site to heal it
(Science, Vol 267, No 5205).
The paste sets in minutes and within
12 hours becomes as strong as natural
bone. Also, bone cells grow into the
implant, gradually replacing it with
fresh, living bone and making the fracture whole again.
In clinical trials in Sweden and The
Netherlands, Norian Mrs has been used
to treat dozens of patients with fractures
of the knee, shoulder, wrist and hip.
Compared to conventional techniques
which involve screws, pins and metal
plates to support broken bones, the new
method proved to be quicker, used less
metal supports and the patients heated faster.
Surgeons in America have used this
bone substitute in 65 pati(
per cent of whom underwent the operation for cosmetic purposes.
Constant7 got the cue for developing Norian SRS from corals. Bone
formation in humans is controlled
by proteins, which direct the bone's
mineralisation, gradually producing
a porous, crystalline structure. It is
extremely d fficult to mimic the
protein-directed bone formation to
produce whole sections of bone
quickly. But the coral skeleton,
which has similar pores, is not proteindictated. Therefore, Constantz decided
to mimic coral, building bones by
Norian SRS significantly cuts down on the use of metal supports
(right) as compared to conventional techniques to treat fractures
reacting chemicals, and formed the
Norian Corp. to realise the vision.
It turned out to be no easy task and
it took Constantz and his colleagues several years to get the right mix of chemicals. The scientists developed 1,200 formulations before they got the present brew.
Surgeons believe the new material
could be especially useful in treating
damage to the end of long bones such as
those of the arms and the legs. Says Toni
Broekhuizen, Chief of the trauma
surgery department at the Academic
Medical Centre in Amsterdam, "If it
(NOTian SRS) is what we think it is, it
could be revolutionary."
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