Project Details
Abstract
Bone defects caused by osteonecrosis, bone tumor resection, or osteoporotic fracture are often treated by
bone grafting procedure. No matter autogenic, allogenic, or synthetic grafts, the processes of creeping
substitution and remodeling are essential for the healing of the bone defects. It is, however, mechanically
undesirable during the remodeling stage that the grafts will lose their supporting strength gradually.
Without adequate mechanical support, the bone defects might be collapsed or deformed and could not
sustain the physical loading in the daily activity. The purpose of this proposal is to develop a kind of
expandable implants that can provide adequate mechanical strength to the bone defects without interfering
with the remodeling of the grafts. Minimally invasive procedure combined with bio-products, stem cells,
or regenerative medical therapy is taken as the future directions for many orthopaedic disorders. The
expandable titanic implants are aimed to amend the current treatment modalities and provide the
possibilities for combination therapies in treating bone defects. The project is to develop the expandable
titanic implants and their surgical tools. The products can be used in osteonecrosis of the femoral head,
bone tumor resection, and osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. The innovation of the design is a
mechanically driven implant with expandable feature. A smart-linked mechanism manipulated from the
bottom of the implant can control its expansion. The expandable implant that increases the contact area in
the bone defect can reduce the stress riser and stress concentration within the void. The three-year project
is the continuum of the initiation project. In the first year (2011), this project aims at the surgical tools
and implants development and biomechanical testing. The expandable implant will be further refined
for its design and specification based on the finite element analysis. In the second year (2011), we will
continue the biomechanical testing. The surgical tools and prototype of the expandable implant will be
further refined by using finite element analysis.We will use decalcified procine vertebrae to simulate
the conditions of osteoporosis. Biomechanical properties will be analyzed on the decalcified procine
vertebrae before and after the implantation of the expandable implant. Surgical specimen of
osteonecrotic femoral heads will be prepared for biomechanical testing before and after expandable
implants insertion. At the end of this year, biocompatibility including local tissue reaction, systemic
inflammatory reactions, metal ions release, and renal function tests will be stressed in accordance to
the biomechanical tests to validate the feasibility of the implants. In the third year (2012), non-invasive
image analyses, histology studies, and mechanical push-out tests will be carried to investigate the
osteointegration of the implants. It is hoped that this project can generate medical device patents and
foster technology transfer for domestic medical device industry. By cultivating promising talents in the
biomechanical field through the implementation of this project and the attendance of invention contests,
we hope that the innovative expandable implants can attract attention from the biotech industry to
facilitate preclinical trials and clinical use in the future.
Project IDs
Project ID:PC10009-0048
External Project ID:NSC100-2321-B182A-009
External Project ID:NSC100-2321-B182A-009
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 01/08/11 → 31/07/12 |
Keywords
- Osteonecrosis of the femoral head
- osteoporosis
- vertebral compression fracture
- titanic implant
- biomechanical
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