BIOPOLYMER ALLOYS FOR SURGICAL PLATES

A NOVEL, BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC ALLOY PLATE FOR USE IN BONE REPAIR IS PLANNED. THE LONG-RANGE GOAL IS TO REPLACE METAL PLATES NOW IN WIDE USE. WORK HAS BEEN DONE ON BIODEGRADABLEPOLYMER PLATES, BUT THESE PLATES, TO DATE, HAVE FUNDAMENTAL LIMITATIONS. THE MAJOR LIMITATION WITH THESE POLYMER PLATESIS THAT THEY UNDERGO DISTORTION, PRINCIPALLY BOWING, AND LACK STRENGTH. THIS PROJECT IS DIRECTLY FOCUSED ON EXPERIMENTALLY PROVING THAT THE DISTORTION/BOWING PROBLEM MAY BE SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED BY PREPARING A POLYMERIC ALLOY THAT WILL PROVIDE INTERNAL CROSS-LINKING; THIS INTERNAL CROSS-LINKING OF THE POLYMERIC LATTICE SHOULD SUBSTANTIALLY LIMIT POLYMER DISTORTION/BOWING WHILE PROVIDING STRENGTH. A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES WOULD ACCRUE IF A SUITABLE BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER PLATE WERE AVAILABLE. ANY NEED FOR A SECOND SURGICAL OPERATION TO REMOVE THE METAL PLATE WOULD BE ELIMINATED, WHICH IS OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE IN PEDIATRIC APPLICATIONS WHERE QUESTIONS OF GROWTH RESTRICTION ARISE WHEN PLATES ARE LEFT IN PLACE. IMPROVED BONE HEALING SHOULD ALSO OCCUR IF THE METAL PLATE IS REPLACED WITH A BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER ALLOY PLATE THAT IS DESIGNED TO BE HYDROLYZED (AND METABOLIZED) AT A RATE CONCURRENT WITH HEALING, THUS PROVIDING THE BONE WITH INCREASED LOAD-BEARING FUNCTIONALITY. FURTHER, IMAGING ARTIFACTS SEEN WITH METAL PLATES WOULD BE AVOIDED.