'Easily Making Artificial Bone Implants... No Inflammation and Good Adhesion'

Simple and Rapid Production of Artificial Bone Implants
Development of Technology for Simultaneous Artificial Bone Synthesis and Coating
Superior Coating Performance Compared to Existing Clinical Products

A titanium piece coated with artificial bone coating method developed by Dr. Jeon Hojung's research team

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] A technology has been developed that strongly coats artificial bone made of the same components as real bone onto implant materials. It rapidly bonds with bone tissue inside the body without loosening or causing inflammation, and is expected to be spotlighted as a next-generation implant material.

On the 6th, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology announced that the research team led by Dr. Hojeong Jeon of the Biomaterials Research Center developed a ceramic artificial bone coating technology with more than three times superior bonding strength compared to existing methods. The paper introducing this technology was recently published in the international journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Artificial Bone Coating Using Nanosecond Laser

The research team developed a technology that can coat artificial bone in a single process within one hour. The method involves placing the material to be coated into a solution composed of calcium and phosphorus, the main components of bone, and irradiating it with a nanosecond laser. When the temperature locally increases in the laser's focal area, calcium and phosphorus react to synthesize ceramic artificial bone. This heat also melts the surface of the material, creating a molten mixed layer that blends with the synthesized artificial bone components. By irradiating the laser on the desired area, artificial bone naturally coats the material.

This simplifies previous processes that required synthesizing raw materials for artificial bone coating or additional heat treatment using expensive equipment.

Applicable for Orthopedic Use

The research team stated that the coating bonding strength is about three times stronger than the conventional method of stacking components on the surface of existing materials. They also explained that strong coatings can be realized on polymer material surfaces such as plastic implants for orthopedic use, which were not achievable with previous processes.

Dr. Hojeong Jeon said, "The hydroxyapatite coating technique using a nanosecond laser is a technology that can easily bioactivate the surfaces of bioinert materials such as titanium and PEEK, which are widely used as biomaterials. It is expected to act as a game changer that enables expanded application to various medical devices requiring bone fusion."