Chennai: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) have developed nano-coated magnesium alloys that could repair bone defects in rabbits.
Encouraged by these results, the research team, which is partnering with several other institutions, is planning to study its medical applications in other animals and repairing human bones.
Magnesium alloys were being considered as a good option for orthopaedic applications as magnesium was biocompatible, biodegradable and has other important mechanical properties.
Magnesium is the fourth abundant metal in the body and was known to accelerate the healing of bones.
However, the use of magnesium alloys in bone repair was restricted due to few issues, which have given a major push to the field of synthetic bone biomaterials where materials such as hydroxyapatite, calcium phosphate and titanium, among others, were being used for filling the bone gaps, a IIT-M release said on Monday.
The research was led by Prof Mukesh Doble, Department of Biotechnology, IIT-M, and comprised of Dr Govindaraj Perumal, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, IIT-M, Dr Boopalan Ramasamy, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Dr A Maya Nandkumar, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, among others.
Their latest research in this field has been published in the internationally reputed peer-reviewed journal Nanomedicine and a patent has also been filed.