The problem of traumatology, orthopedics and prosthetics is not of interest to full-fledged people, in whose life, fortunately, no irreparable misfortunes have occurred. However, no one can renounce this, and even more so we cannot leave those with whom these misfortunes happened in trouble. What is the scale of the tragedy, and what materials are and will be used to replace the lost limbs?
Within the framework of the round table "An integrated innovative approach to the development and production of medical devices for traumatology, orthopedics and prosthetics" of the Biotechmed-2019 forum, we talked with Svetlana Skvortsova, Doctor of Technical Sciences and Professor of the Department of Materials Science and Materials Processing Technology of the Moscow Aviation Institute.
Currently, about fifty different materials are used in the world to replace more than 40 different parts of the human body. The number of implantable devices in the world is over five million per year! In traumatology and orthopedics, titanium and titanium alloys, cobalt alloys, corrosion-resistant steels, tantalum, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and acrylic cements are most widely used, which must meet the requirements of all international standards.
What are dentures made of?
Any endoprosthesis consists of a movement unit (the most commonly used metal-polyethylene friction pair) and elements (legs), which are fixed in the bone structures directly or with the help of bone cement. The service life of the endoprosthesis is determined by the operability of the movement unit and the reliability of the supporting structure.
Well-known world leaders in the production of endoprostheses: Zimmer-Biomed, De Puy, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, which own more than 60% of the international market.
In Russia, implantable devices are produced by small manufacturing companies such as FGUP CITO, FGUP OZ im. Ilizarov”, CJSC“Implant MT”, LLC“Osteomed”, LLC“Endoservice”, LLC“Titanmed”, LLC“Konmet”, LLC“Track-E Composite”LLC, which find it difficult to compete with world leaders.
Promotional video:
However, in the opinion of Alexander Gubin, director of the Ilizarov Russian Scientific and Technical Center “VTO”, we live in conditions of a shortage of high-quality Russian-made medical devices. At the same time, doctors are interested in using them and are ready to take an active part in determining the main directions of development.
Many fundamental and scientific developments of Russian scientists are of world priority. On the basis of these developments, unique technologies have been created for processing titanium-based alloys, as well as “intelligent” shape memory alloys, not only for aviation, rocket and space technology, but also for solving priority medical problems of the world level. This made it possible to create fully titanium hypoallergenic joint endoprostheses with a nanostructured bacteriostatic surface with high wear resistance. And all-titanium oncoprostheses allow for early diagnosis of possible tumor recurrence using MRI, which is impossible if the prostheses are made of cobalt alloy or stainless steel.
What to expect in the future?
If we talk about the future of Russian prostheses, the main areas of research will be the development of new biologically and mechanically compatible implants for osteosynthesis and replacement of defects of the musculoskeletal system, the creation of personalized medical devices using additive technologies and a specialized software complex for their life cycle, the development of osteoplastic materials based on biological and synthetic matrices.
Medicine is traditionally a conservative science, and any new material goes through a long way of testing, therefore Russian specialists are also focused on the development of materials processing technologies that provide a significant increase in their service and functional properties.