| Developers: | National Research Center Kurchatov Institute (Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy) |
| Date of the premiere of the system: | 2023/07/13 |
| Branches: | Pharmaceuticals, Medicine, Healthcare |
Main article: Implants for traumatology and orthopedics (Russian market)
2023: Announcement of the creation of biodegradable polymer implants for the spine
On July 13, 2023, representatives Kurchatov Institute announced the creation of individual polymeric implants ones for the spine.
As reported, the spinal cage is a structure that during surgery on the spine is installed in place of the destroyed intervertebral disk to fuse neighboring vertebrae damaged as a result of injuries or diseases. For July 2023, non-decomposable materials are used to create such structures, which remain inside the body forever, and can potentially cause complications. Scientists at the Kurchatov Institute Research Center have created a biodegradable cage that tightly connects the vertebrae, and after their fusion, at a given time, is replaced by the patient's bone tissue.
The problem of creating the next generation spinal cage is jointly solved by scientists from the Kurchatov Institute and the RNCH named after academician B.V. Petrovsky. One of the main requirements for scientists is that the cage be created from biodegradable material. According to the sketches of doctors in the laboratory of polymer materials of the Kurchatov complex of NBIX-nature-like technologies, they developed a cage design, created its model based on a CT image of a patient, and then made an implant on a 3D printer.
Cage consists of two parts made of polymers: a frame that takes on all the load, and a zone with a porous structure.
 | Bone tissue has a large porosity, from 50 to 90%, and that is, a number of reasons - the diffusion of nutrients, the elimination of various products from the body. Therefore, one of the requirements for the implant is porosity. We had a big question - how to recreate such a porous structure? We decided to use a system of elementary cells built on the basis of a gyroid surface (a gyroid is a complex structure that is infinitely connected and repeating in all three dimensions, devoid of straight lines and plane symmetry). Its parameters can be calculated by mathematical methods and varied, due to which the porosity of the resulting structure and its mechanical properties can be precisely controlled. This allows you to adapt to the bone tissue where the implant will be installed. For example, the cages for the cervical spine and for the lumbar will have different cell structures. told Nikita Sedush, head of the laboratory of polymer materials of the Kurchatov complex of NBIKS-nature-like technologies |  |
Such complex "geometry" is not easy to translate into reality: classical methods of material processing are no longer suitable here. But using additive technologies (3D printing), you can create products of the desired structure and adjust their properties. These technologies open up opportunities for the creation of both standard and personalized products: it is possible to make a cage that repeats the surface of the vertebrae of a particular patient, and this will make it possible to optimally compensate for the change in anatomy as a result of injury.
The next important task was to obtain a biodegradable material for the cage framework with the necessary properties.
| | In our laboratory, we work a lot with polylactide and its copolymers of various compositions. These are materials that we have studied well - we know how to synthesize and customize their properties. The results of our studies have shown that polylactides can replace non-decomposable materials for the manufacture of medical structures. The peculiarity of these products is that they are both biodegradable and personalized. There are no analogues in Russian medicine for July 2023 yet. told N. Sedush | |
Polylactide cage will decompose completely in the postoperative period. Preliminary tests showed that it withstands a compression load of more than 500 kg. The first samples were made, which will soon be tested on animals.
In addition, scientists are working on a bioactive coating that can be applied to the surface of the cage to speed up the fusion of the vertebrae.
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