Material Unites Project!
In this project students were asked to choose a material the has the potential to change the future of materials and write an article about it. I chose titanium foam bone implants. We were then asked to send our writing to a magazine called Scijourner to try for publishing. My writing is still in the refinement process with the publishers at Scijourner. Here is a link to their web-sight: http://scijourner.org/. Below is my article, feel free to read!
Building Wolverine-like Bones with Titanium Foam Implants
Zach
Sobiech, 18-year-old musical sensation and athlete from Minnesota, was diagnosed at age 14 with osteosarcoma, a rare
bone cancer. As the disease progressed, doctors had no more effective treatment
options to offer him a cure. About 3,010 people are diagnosed with bone
cancer in the United States each year and are in need of a bone implant. Zach bravely endured 10 surgeries and 20 rounds of
chemotherapy. Still, Zach decided to live like he always had, with a smile on
his face, embracing every day with light and joy through his music and passion
in sports. Zach passed away May 20, 2013, just before he became the #1 artist
on iTunes.
Zach, and many others, could have had a better chance if they replaced the bone in which the cancer first sprouted with an implant before the cancer spread. A new kind of implant made of titanium foam acts as a beacon of hope for athletes like Zach. The implant resembles the inside of a bone in terms of its structural configuration. Not only does this make it less stiff than conventional massive implants such as titanium rods that leave patents unable to participate in physical activities. It also promotes in growth into surrounding bones, as it would happen naturally. The product was created in Dresden, Germany by physicists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials.
Other massive bone implants have proven not sofassant to athletes in the past because they contain properties that are drastically different from the human skeleton, such as stiffness. Massive bone implants are not flexible and weight distributing like a real human bone. This causes more stress to be put on the implant instead of neighboring bones, which, as a result, leads to the deterioration of neighboring bones. Meaning, people like Zach could not continue to do the things they love such as playing soccer after receiving this type of implant.
"The mechanical properties of titanium foams made this way closely approach those of the human bone. This applies foremost to the balance between extreme durability and minimal rigidity.” Reports Peter Quadbeck.
The material is constructed as a result of an open-cell polyurethane polymer (PU) coated in titanium powder. Aka: a polymer coated in a metal. The powder sticks to the cellular binding agent structures of the foam. It is then heated and the PU and binding agents are then vaporized leaving an ultimately hollow and sintered (the pressing and heating of powdered materials close to their melting point to create a solid shape) product that closely resembles human bone marrow.
To break it down, titanium foam is a metal (titanium) that has the physical structure of a polymer that is very much like human bone marrow. The porosity of the foam allows for much more flexibility in the implant and allows for blood to filter naturally. The titanium foam itself is made of titanium powder. The structure of titanium powder is very much like titanium. The foam’s biocompatibility behaves very similarly to that of titanium. Titanium is considered the most biocompatible of all metals. This is because it can withstand attack from bodily functions and it stays in place in the human body. The materials ability to be resistant to the human body under stressful conditions is due to the protective oxide film that forms naturally in the presence of oxygen. The oxide film is highly adherent, insoluble, and chemically non-transportable, preventing a reaction from occurring. This makes the titanium foam not only uncreative to bodily fluids and fixed in its space, but strongly enhances bone compatibility by having an even and natural distribution of weight on the implant and neighboring bones. Titanium, like most metals, has a crystalline structure. A crystalline structure is formed when they are cooled below their melting points. Crystalline structures have a cubic unit cell.
Unfortunately, there is limited research on the mechanical properties of biocompatible titanium foams according to Peter Quadbeck. Dr. Rene Imwinkelried, vice president of pharmaceutical development in pharmaceutical sciences, who has studied mechanical properties of titanium foam via compression, tension, and classical fatigue testing on titanium. (Sadaf Kashef) Because of this, the usage of titanium foam for a bone implant in humans is not yet approved, however, it does give us a glimpse of what future medical techniques look like.
Titanium foam may revolutionize how society views implants. Historically implants have been viewed as a burden due to limited patient activity. The foam acts as a futuristic model of what medical science is going to be in the near future. Everyday the product is investigated further, mankind moves forward to the kind of flawless medical world that humans have been shooting at for thousands of years. Using titanium bone implants as an alternative to other massive bone implants could not only offer a possibility to heal for Zach and many others but could also allow them to continue to pursue the things they feel passionate about and make life worth living.
Zach, and many others, could have had a better chance if they replaced the bone in which the cancer first sprouted with an implant before the cancer spread. A new kind of implant made of titanium foam acts as a beacon of hope for athletes like Zach. The implant resembles the inside of a bone in terms of its structural configuration. Not only does this make it less stiff than conventional massive implants such as titanium rods that leave patents unable to participate in physical activities. It also promotes in growth into surrounding bones, as it would happen naturally. The product was created in Dresden, Germany by physicists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials.
Other massive bone implants have proven not sofassant to athletes in the past because they contain properties that are drastically different from the human skeleton, such as stiffness. Massive bone implants are not flexible and weight distributing like a real human bone. This causes more stress to be put on the implant instead of neighboring bones, which, as a result, leads to the deterioration of neighboring bones. Meaning, people like Zach could not continue to do the things they love such as playing soccer after receiving this type of implant.
"The mechanical properties of titanium foams made this way closely approach those of the human bone. This applies foremost to the balance between extreme durability and minimal rigidity.” Reports Peter Quadbeck.
The material is constructed as a result of an open-cell polyurethane polymer (PU) coated in titanium powder. Aka: a polymer coated in a metal. The powder sticks to the cellular binding agent structures of the foam. It is then heated and the PU and binding agents are then vaporized leaving an ultimately hollow and sintered (the pressing and heating of powdered materials close to their melting point to create a solid shape) product that closely resembles human bone marrow.
To break it down, titanium foam is a metal (titanium) that has the physical structure of a polymer that is very much like human bone marrow. The porosity of the foam allows for much more flexibility in the implant and allows for blood to filter naturally. The titanium foam itself is made of titanium powder. The structure of titanium powder is very much like titanium. The foam’s biocompatibility behaves very similarly to that of titanium. Titanium is considered the most biocompatible of all metals. This is because it can withstand attack from bodily functions and it stays in place in the human body. The materials ability to be resistant to the human body under stressful conditions is due to the protective oxide film that forms naturally in the presence of oxygen. The oxide film is highly adherent, insoluble, and chemically non-transportable, preventing a reaction from occurring. This makes the titanium foam not only uncreative to bodily fluids and fixed in its space, but strongly enhances bone compatibility by having an even and natural distribution of weight on the implant and neighboring bones. Titanium, like most metals, has a crystalline structure. A crystalline structure is formed when they are cooled below their melting points. Crystalline structures have a cubic unit cell.
Unfortunately, there is limited research on the mechanical properties of biocompatible titanium foams according to Peter Quadbeck. Dr. Rene Imwinkelried, vice president of pharmaceutical development in pharmaceutical sciences, who has studied mechanical properties of titanium foam via compression, tension, and classical fatigue testing on titanium. (Sadaf Kashef) Because of this, the usage of titanium foam for a bone implant in humans is not yet approved, however, it does give us a glimpse of what future medical techniques look like.
Titanium foam may revolutionize how society views implants. Historically implants have been viewed as a burden due to limited patient activity. The foam acts as a futuristic model of what medical science is going to be in the near future. Everyday the product is investigated further, mankind moves forward to the kind of flawless medical world that humans have been shooting at for thousands of years. Using titanium bone implants as an alternative to other massive bone implants could not only offer a possibility to heal for Zach and many others but could also allow them to continue to pursue the things they feel passionate about and make life worth living.
Additional Questions we were faced with during the project
1) “How has the chemistry of materials shaped our past, present and how may it shape our future?”
2) “How does the structure of matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic and macroscopic levels determine a material’s properties?”
Answers:
1) The chemistry of materials has shaped our past, present, and future in many ways. One way that it has had a huge impact on our society is the metal industry. The rise of the metal, mainly steel and iron, in the United States drove America's growth as a world economic power due to the train and oil industry. Metals have been used by humans sense 4000 B.C.E. for making various weapons and tools needed to survive. Without metal today we could not have the modern medical equipment, ways of transportation, technology, and homes we have now. In the future, metal will continue to play a key note in how we live our lives.
2) The structure of matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic levels determines a material's properties by effecting if the material has specific qualities such as malleability. When a metal is malleable it is because its atoms has the ability to roll and slide over each other into new shapes without breaking the metallic bond. The crystal structure of metals that are harder to bend makes it more difficult to press the atoms into new positions without breaking. This is because the rows of atoms in the metal don't line-up like they do in softer metals, this is due to more grain boundaries that exist within the metal.
2) “How does the structure of matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic and macroscopic levels determine a material’s properties?”
Answers:
1) The chemistry of materials has shaped our past, present, and future in many ways. One way that it has had a huge impact on our society is the metal industry. The rise of the metal, mainly steel and iron, in the United States drove America's growth as a world economic power due to the train and oil industry. Metals have been used by humans sense 4000 B.C.E. for making various weapons and tools needed to survive. Without metal today we could not have the modern medical equipment, ways of transportation, technology, and homes we have now. In the future, metal will continue to play a key note in how we live our lives.
2) The structure of matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic levels determines a material's properties by effecting if the material has specific qualities such as malleability. When a metal is malleable it is because its atoms has the ability to roll and slide over each other into new shapes without breaking the metallic bond. The crystal structure of metals that are harder to bend makes it more difficult to press the atoms into new positions without breaking. This is because the rows of atoms in the metal don't line-up like they do in softer metals, this is due to more grain boundaries that exist within the metal.