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Novel patching material for bone defects

indie
3 minutes

TSUKUBA, Japan, Jun 27, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Ceramics and metals have been used for a while as structural materials to repair bones and joints. In the past, scientists engineered bioinert materials, which do not bond to bones directly; bioactive materials that can bond to bones; and bio-absorbable materials that are categorized in bioactive materials but they are absorbed by the body over time and are replaced by advancing bone tissue. A new bio-responsive ceramic can be used to repair bone defectsWith an enzyme found in blood, different types of salts were converted to hydroxyapatite, a bone mineralNow, a fourth type of bone repairing materials has been found: a bio-responsive ceramic that interacts with an enzyme found in blood to be absorbed into the body at a precise and predictable rate.The research was done by Taishi Yokoi, an associate professor at the Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, and his colleagues. The study was published in May in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials."Extending healthy life expectancy is an important issue for all of us," Yokoi says. "Bone repairing materials aid in the r...

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Materials coloured like a peacock

indie
3 minutes

Tsukuba, Japan, Jan 26, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Melanin-like compounds can be precisely designed and arranged to colour materials using a mechanism similar to that found in a peacock's feathers. Chemist Michinari Kohri of Chiba University in Japan reviewed the latest research on these 'melanin-mimetic materials' and their potential applications for the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.Scientists are developing materials inspired by the structural colours in a peacock's feathers. (Credit: Takashi Tsujino)Melanin and melanin-like compounds absorb some of the light that is scattered from the microstructures within materials. Scientists are finding ways to control this phenomenon to give a variety of iridescent and non-iridescent colours. (Credit: Michinari Kohri)Melanin is a dark pigment that gives hair and skin its colour. It is also essential for the bright colours we see in some organisms. When light interacts with the structures of feathers, wings and shells of many organisms, like peacocks, butterflies and jewel beetles, it is scattered, appearing white. But when melanin is interspersed within these structures, some of the scattered light is absorbed, producin...