Revolutionizing Bone Implants: The Promising Journey of Hyperelastic Bone and 3D Printing in Modern Medicine

Abstract

Introduction: In the rapidly developing world of modern medicine, there is an effort to create innovative materials that are characterized by affordability, quality, and long service life. The main target for the research teams became artificial bone implants produced by 3D printing. Biocompatibility, individualized geometries, and expansiveness of the material during bone growth are basic criteria for simplifying surgical manipulation and simplifying rehabilitation. In the last decade, such materials have mainly included ceramic composites and polyesters containing calcium phosphate. A cutting-edge step was the discovery of a material called hyperelastic bone (HB), which combines hydroxyapatite and biocompatible polymer components. HB is formed by an inorganic-organic composite with a 3D structure, capable of expansion along with growing bone. Due to its biocompatibility, it brings significant advances in the field of bone endoprostheses designed for pediatric patients. HB in combination with suitable 3D printing technology brings the possibility of producing individualized bone replacements of a new generation. This new generation is characterized by a more than 70 % decrease in the need for repeated resections during bone growth in pediatric patients, thereby significantly increasing the patient's quality of life and reducing the demands on rehabilitation.

Aim: Emphasize the importance of hyperelastic bone as a revolutionary material in the field of artificial bone implants, which has the potential to meet the quality of life of pediatric patients after part of the bone transplantation.

Conclusions: The effort to find new materials specifically for pediatric patients with rapidly growing bones has led to the breakthrough discovery of hyperelastic bone developed by the team of Jakus et al. from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston. It is a composite that combines hydroxyapatite, polycaprolactone and polylactic acid. The material improves the physicochemical and mechanical properties of endoprostheses compared to the still commonly used and studied materials based on polyesters and organic-inorganic composites. This material has a significant ability to adapt its geometry during the growth of the child's bone and thus reduce the demands of rehabilitation. In combination with 3D printing, HB offers a reduction in the cost of producing individualized endoprostheses. This groundbreaking material sets new standards for endoprosthesis development, orthopedics, and rehabilitation. Although this is a huge advance in medicine and medical rehabilitation, it is necessary to optimize rehabilitation processes for novel type of endoprostheses.