Screws for the spine
NSTU scientists have created screws made of heavy-duty oxide ceramics for spinal surgery
At Novosibirsk State Technical University, scientists have discovered a new way to produce high-strength ceramics and developed a technology for the production of the first ceramic screws for the spine in Russia. Unlike metal ones, they do not require replacement, and the patient will not need a repeat operation.
In early April 2018, scientists of the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology were awarded silver medals of the Moscow International Salon of Inventions and Innovative Technologies "Archimedes-2018". The staff of the reference university of Siberia managed to find a way to obtain a dense ceramic material and develop a technology for the production of screws for spinal surgery. Previously, no medical products made of high-strength ceramics were produced in Russia.
The product is applicable in traumatology and orthopedics and can be used during surgical operations. The cost of devices made of new material is several times less than Western analogues. And yet one of the main features of the development is not the price, but the new material. NSTU scientists were able to increase the strength of the screw by adding complex compounds to the composition (aluminum oxide with alumomagnesial spinel). When screwed into the bone during operations, the new product remains intact, while the product made of ordinary ceramics crumbles. The new material increases the product's resistance to destruction.
Unlike the metal screws currently used, ceramics does not cause allergies and inflammation. Over time, metal medical products wear out, so their service life does not exceed 10 years. The development of oxide ceramics does not require replacement, so that the patient will be spared from repeated surgical interventions on the spine
Developments for the production of ceramics and the production of new generation screws have been patented. A trial batch of new screws has already been manufactured at JSC "NEVZ-CERAMICS". According to the results of preclinical experiments, the staff of NIITO began research of the material on animals. Several implants have already been implanted in piglets, observations show good results in the hypoallergenic nature of the material and the rate of recovery of the body after surgery. It is assumed that after the tests, the screws will be used for implantation in diseases and spinal injuries.
One of the authors of the development, an engineer of the Department of Materials Science in Mechanical Engineering of the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology of NSTU Nina Cherkasova noted: "Today, researchers often do not have interaction with manufacturing companies, on the other hand, the manufacturer does not always know who and how to set the task of creating materials and technologies. NSTU, in cooperation with NEVZ-CERAMICS, was able to combine the research potential of the university and the capabilities of the plant for the production of a sought-after medical device."
The scope of application of oxide ceramics is not limited to medicine. Scientists note that the material can also be used in metallurgy, radio engineering, power engineering, heat engineering and as a base for the creation of other new materials.
Earlier it was reported that NEVZ-Ceramics plans to launch by the end of 2018 a line for the production of the first knee joint prosthesis in Russia with elements made of high-strength ceramics, also developed at the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology of NSTU. The endoprosthesis has already been introduced into production and medical practice, more than three thousand prostheses have been installed for patients.
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