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Dentures made of wood - a revolution in prosthetics
Known since childhood pirate wooden dentures and hooks attached to any novel or movie mystery and excite the curiosity of young viewers. Unfortunately, in life have to deal with people who are forced to use artificial limbs to replace lost organs or bones. The main objective of setting "the bone substitutes is a partial return of the functionality of mutilated limbs. Until recently it was thought that the wooden dentures forever gone, along with fabulous pirates, but surprisingly all Italian scientists have refuted it, and under the guidance of Anna Tamperi created a unique material for the manufacture of bone implants, based on tree structure.
As confirmed by the researchers, the structure of wood is very similar to the structure of human bone tissue. This feature of the doctors mentioned in all ages, but until now the tree was considered unsuitable for prostheses because of its propensity to rot. Italian scientists have our way out - they are heated wood to a very high temperature, thereby removing it from water and proteins, and then left the skeleton of wood. Then, as a result of complex chemical reactions, the interaction of carbon dioxide and oxygen formed calcium carbonate - a white material, which by its structure is almost indistinguishable from the real bones. The new bone material have been created microscopic holes and channels, which contributes to more successful integration of the prosthesis into the human body. Prior to this synthetic analogs that have been applied in similar experiments, could not withstand the test and often rejected by the body. Even such a popular material such as titanium is considerably inferior to the new invention.
The advantage of using tree structures is that similar designs can withstand considerable pressure, according to Ian Gibson, a professor at Aberdeen University. On the basis of "woody" materials in the near future will be made first prostheses - Part bones broken as a result of accidents or after serious surgery. While it must be noted that the new material has not been studied enough to make it possible to fabricate not fragment, and the bone completely, but still ahead.
In the near future, scientists plan to begin work on creating an integrated implant and promote new technology in other fields outside of medicine.
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