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A bioimplant made of magnesium: The prototype of a cruciate ligament screw. Photo: HZG
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Targeted Dissolution of Magnesium Implants
Over the course of the next four years, the EU project "Tailored biodegradable magnesium implant materials" (MagnIM) is to develop and test the first prototypes of biocompatible bone implants made of magnesium. The project funded with three million Euro is coordinated by the Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht (HZG). Implants made of the light metal magnesium support bone regeneration and dissolve in the body of their own accord after a certain period.
Such materials would make sense in particular in paediatric surgery, since children continue to grow. The same applies to the treatment of injuries requiring only the temporary immobilisation of ligaments. Magnesium is a material of choice, because this element naturally occurs in the body and therefore can be tolerated particularly well. Moreover, the material is firm and elastic at the same time and can be adapted to meet the specific demands of the skeleton. "We need materials with a high degree of mechanical stability over a long period of time. In the healing process, the implant needs to be completely absorbed by the bone. The bone then takes the place of the implant and it can be expected that it will not be possible to determine whether a magnesium implant has been set into the bone or not", explains Prof. Dr Regine Willumeit, who heads the project and tests the biological tolerance in cell experiments and researches the corrosion properties.
The magnesium-based alloys are developed by the team around Dr Norbert Hort. The project involves also scientists from Leuven and Prague as well as physicians from the Universities in Graz and Malmö, who will conduct further tolerance tests. Collaboration includes also industry partners in Germany and Finland.
