Smart orthopedic implants, self-fitting tissue scaffolding created by UMMS researchers

Orthopedic surgeons are often hamstrung by less-than-ideal grafting material when performing surgeries for complex bone injuries resulting from trauma, aging or cancer. Conventional synthetic bone grafts are typically made of stiff polymers or brittle ceramics, and cannot readily conform to the complex and irregular shapes that often result from injury; in addition, they often require metallic fixation devices that require open surgeries to insert and remove. Ideally, a scaffolding graft would conform to complex shapes of an injury site, provide weight-bearing support, require less invasive surgical delivery, and ultimately disappear when no longer needed.

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