Piezoelectric for surgeons
Russia has created a unique material for surgery and implantology
Scientists of the Ural Federal University (UrFU) together with foreign colleagues and researchers Tomsk Polytechnic University has created a new material that can be widely used in surgery. According to the authors, constructions made of the new material can be used in bone tissue engineering, for the restoration of cartilage, the creation of wound dressings and suture threads. The study was published in the journal Nano Energy (Chernozem et al., Enhanced piezoresponse and surface electric potential of hybrid biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate scaffolds functionalized with reduced graphene oxide for tissue engineering).
It is known that electrical stimulation can speed up the recovery of bone defects, for example, fractures or cracks. Therefore, piezoelectric materials capable of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa attract wide attention of scientists today.
In addition, the treatment of some diseases requires biodegradable implants that dissolve in the body over time and do not require repeated surgical intervention to remove them, which reduces the risks of inflammation. Also, these implants must have an ordered three-dimensional structure and certain mechanical properties to restore the damaged area of the bones.
Thus, modern regenerative medicine, in particular, bone implantology, needs the development of new intelligent piezoelectric materials that can simultaneously biodegrade and provide electrical/mechanical stimulation of cells and tissues of the body. Solving this complex task requires an interdisciplinary approach.
UrFU scientists together with colleagues from Tomsk Polytechnic University and scientists from Belgium, Germany and Portugal have developed biodegradable three–dimensional scaffolds based on poly-3-oxybutyrate polymer fibers with increased piezoelectric response (up to 2.5 times) and surface charge (up to 9.5 times).
For the first time, researchers have studied in detail the structural and molecular changes in a polymer composite caused by the addition of a nanoscale agent based on graphene oxide. In addition, they demonstrated for the first time in the world the piezoelectric response of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate itself at the nanoscale.
When solving the problem, a biocompatible and biodegradable synthetic polymer, poly–3-oxybutyrate (POB), known to science for a long time, was used. This polymer has piezoelectric properties, which in their values are close to the properties of bone collagen, although they are inferior to the characteristics of non-biodegradable analogues.
To improve the piezoelectric properties of the POB, scientists decided to use biocompatible nanoscale reduced graphene oxide (VOG). The chemical features and high specific surface area of this substance allow it to be used for drug delivery. Using POB and VOG, the authors of the study developed new biodegradable three-dimensional polymer scaffolds with enhanced piezoelectric response and potential (charge) on the surface.
There are very few similar materials that would combine biocompatibility, biodegradability, piezoelectric properties and the possibility of obtaining a three-dimensional structure with specified mechanical properties. Therefore, the new development can find wide application in medicine, said Andrey Kholkin, head of the Laboratory of nanoscale ferroelectric materials at UrFU:
"To obtain our scaffolds, we used the electroforming method, which is characterized by simplicity and the unique ability to control the size of polymer fibers at the nanoscale. To conduct a detailed study of the structure and properties of the developed scaffolds, we used a whole range of high-precision analytical methods, from scanning microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to piezoelectric force microscopy, in which our laboratory is a world leader."
Currently, the developed scaffolds are undergoing biological studies, which, after successful completion, will require a full range of preclinical tests. The authors hope for their wide application in medical practice in the near future.
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