September 18, 2013

Plastics from Renewable Raw Materials: Body automatically breaks down implants



Researchers from Graz University of Technology, together with colleagues from the Medical University of Graz, Vienna University of Technology and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, have managed to develop absorbable implants to promote bone healing which are broken down by the body.  In this way, painful multiple operations – especially in children – can be avoided in the future. The “BRIC - BioResorbable Implants for Children” project, funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), was successfully completed at the end of August.

The goal was finally achieved after four years of research. Scientists from Graz University of Technology and their colleagues in Graz and Vienna finally concluded the development stage of the BRIC – Bio Resorbable Implants for Children project. Bioresorbable implants are implants that are resorbed by the body over time. In contrast to traditional implants, such as plates, screws or pins, which have to be surgically removed after a certain time, bioresorbable implants do not have to be surgically removed. The BRICs are to be used in children, who suffer particularly from each surgical intervention.