RESEARCHERS from Ulster University are at the forefront of a new project to “revolutionise” the healing of bone fractures.
The UU team has joined universities in the United States on a £1.5 million scheme to develop state-of-the-art implants which will be reabsorbed by the body after a fracture has healed.
The pioneering magnesium-based orthopaedic implants will replace metal pins and rods which have to be surgically removed after they have done their job of helping bones to heal.
Along with the US universities, the National University Galway will join UU in representing the Irish academics keen to explore the possible advance in healthcare.
Professor Brian Meenan of Ulster University’s Nanotechnology and Integrated BioEngineering Centre said the university had been awarded £300,000 of the overall funding.
“This research has a specific focus on delivering new orthopaedic implant devices for paediatric use, as the need for a second implant removal surgery is almost always required in children as their bones are still growing."
The project is being carried out under US-Ireland R&D Centre-to-Centre programme which is being carried out by the Department for the Economy, Science Foundation Ireland and the US National Science Foundation.
