Innovations in plastics will make the bone implant disappear post-healing

A new artificial bone strong enough to support new bone growth but porous enough to be absorbed and replaced by the human body has been developed. The developed material, dubbed "Plasti-Bone," is made from a biologically compatible plastic with a ceramic coating. When an arm bone or leg bone is severely crushed, physicians usually cannot set it, making bone grafts or amputation the primary options. The same is true for bones damaged by diseases such as cancer.
ACR has shown that a CAT scan or MRI image can be made of the good arm bone and converted to a "growth code" – a 3-D virtual image – of the replacement bone segment. Using that data, ACR's rapid prototyping technology then creates a micro-porous calcium phosphate coated polymer 'bone' which is surgically implanted where the damaged bone has been removed. The calcium phosphate coating is very thin and allows the bone cells to attach themselves to the implant. Growth factors could be added to the calcium phosphate to encourage the bone growth at faster rates. What is left of the real bone attaches itself to the polymer bone after about 8 weeks. The real bone begins to 'grow through' the porous scaffold, 'eating' the scaffold and the body naturally excretes the calcium phosphate material. In 18 months, the bone is expected to grow back completely, leaving the patient with a natural bone.
Proof that the process works has been shown in animal testing as well as in tissue cultures. The material - which could reach the market within 5 years - holds promise over metallic inserts, which can't be absorbed by the body and must eventually be replaced and biological materials that are too brittle to support much force. The artificial bone can be custom-made to match the exact shape of a patient's bone through computer design and "rapid prototyping" fabrication. The control on the rate of absorption and the porosity can be achieved controlling the thickness of the ceramic coating.
The porous nature of the Plasti-Bone material allows blood flow through the healing area, while the material is tough enough to resist the corrosiveness of human blood. Remanants of the natural bone begins bonding to the Plasti-Bone in about eight weeks. Eventually, the implant is "bioresorbed" - completely replaced by new bone tissue.

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