Joint Implants Without an Expiry Date
Monday, June 2, 2014 - 08:32
in Health & Medicine
Artificial joints have a limited lifespan. After a few years, many hip and knee joints have to be replaced. Much more complex are intervertebral disc implants, which cannot easily be replaced after their "expiry date" and which up to now have had to be reinforced in most cases. This restricts the patient's freedom of movement considerably. Researchers at Empa have now succeeded in coating mobile intervertebral disc implants so that they show no wear and will now last for a lifetime.