London, Jan 2
You read it right. A fragile 'ceramic' material can now work as a bone substitute.
A team of researchers at National Polytechnic Institute (NPI) in France, have found that Hydroxylapatite - medullar component of the bone - when obtained synthetically and 'giving' it some characteristics, could be used as a bone substitute.
“Hydroxylapatite, when obtained synthetically, conserves its properties and could work as a bone substitute because, according to our studies, it doesn't cause toxicity in the human body,” said Lucia Téllez Jurado from the laboratory of heavy materials of metallurgic engineer at Superior School of Chemical Engineering and Extractive Industries (ESIQUE).
Hydroxylapatite is a widely studied material, employed as a biomaterial and can be obtained from animal skeletons or synthetically. Another of its applications is as a filter for heavy metals.
By:IANS