Professors Tom Webster (BME) and Elliott Slamovich (MSE) have been awarded a Nanoscale Exploratory Research (NER) grant from NSF entitled "Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Novel Biologically Inspired Nanostructured Material Formulations as Bone Prostheses."

Current material formulations in use as bone prostheses do not satisfy surface and mechanical requirements, thereby resulting in implant failure due to a lack of bonding with bone (osseointegration). Osseointegration is necessary to stabilize the prostheses in situ so that physiological loading conditions can be supported and, consequently, the patient can lead a normal, active life. Incomplete osseointegration of prostheses can be caused by (i) surface properties that do not support new bone growth and (ii) mechanical properties that do not match those of surrounding bone tissue. The proposed study will design, synthesize, and evaluate (using both in vitro cellular studies and surface/mechanical testing) biologically-inspired materials that possess high amounts of fully dispersed nanoceramic particles in polymer matrices to mimic bone; collectively, to date, uninvestigated parameters for increased orthopedic implant efficacy. Since all tissues of the body are nanostructured in nature, positive results on the present study would provide evidence that the design of synthetic, biologically-inspired, nanomaterial formulations may increase the efficacy of numerous implant applications.

This grant was awarded as part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative of the National Science Foundation.