IMET RAS specialists have created a “bone cement” with an improved composition – we are talking about magnesium-calcium in osphatic bone cement that can withstand loads up to 500 kg / cm2 with the addition of zinc ions that help reduce growth pressure, including Staphylococcus aureus and electric stick.
The key field of application of the developed material is reconstructive and restorative surgery, where and for the replacement of foreign analogues, restoring the parts of bone tissues that have been destroyed as a result of an injury or various diseases. This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation and published on the resource “Materials”.
First of all, postoperative, with a history of trauma, osteoporosis, oncological, supported by cysts, destruction of bone tissue, for the replacement of which Russian doctors, as a rule, mean imported “bone cements”, which are based on the synthetic polymer polymethyl methacrylate.
This material, as is known, has an organic basis, optimally thin and thin, necessary for mechanical development, but also has a number of disadvantages in the form of toxicity of the initial compounds due to which it is obtained, as well as inability to decompose in the initial state.
Micrograph of the bone cement surface. Photo: V.KomlevMoreover, as a result of surgical intervention, various infections can occur (primer, Staphylococcus cus aureus or Streptococcus spp.), which is the search for such compounds that would also have antibacterial activity.
As a result, scientists from IMET RAS, with the support of their colleagues, were able to synthesize a new “bone cement”, which is based on the mineral newberyite (magnesium phosphate), to which a small amount of zinc has been added.
The choice of zinc, rather than silver, which is actively used in many medical devices, is due to the fact that it, like phosphate compounds and magnesium phosphate, is present in human bones and will be better accepted by the body.
As an example of a study, the introduction of up to one mass distribution of zinc in the material will actively support the spread of microorganisms and the fight against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus infections at the local level, and already conducted experiments have proven the increased strength of such “bone cement” – up to 500 kg / cm2 , which is twice as high as that of materials without zinc.
Source: Tech Cult
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