Newly announced National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding will expand the
reach of ongoing University of
Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) research into a unique nanostructured coating
to improve the performance and longevity of total joint replacement components.
The broadened UAB research opportunity is funded by a four-year, $790,931 National
Institutes of Health (NIH) grant through the National Institute of Arthritis
and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
 | | Yogesh Vohra. |
UAB's research, titled Bioengineering Research Partnership (BRP) in Total Joint
Replacements, will explore next-generation technology to improve the service
life of total joint replacements, which UAB researchers believe could dramatically
cut the number of recurrent surgical procedures performed each year, said Yogesh
Vohra, Ph.D., the BRP's principal investigator and director of the Center for
Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration (CNMB) in the UAB School of Natural Sciences
and Mathematics.
Vohra said the BRP opportunity will unite his UAB interdisciplinary research
team with professionals at Smith and Nephew Inc., an international leader in
the development of advanced medical devices. The company is known globally for
its OXINIUMTM oxidized zirconium material for joint replacements.
"We have been researching our nanostructured multilayer diamond coating
for a number of years inside our UAB facilities but there have been limitations
to just how rigorous the testing could be," Vohra said. "The funding
to partner with Smith and Nephew expands our research options because it offers
us access to the company's resources and talent."
Among the benefits, Vohra said, the BRP allows access to Smith and Nephew's
hip and knee simulators, which offer UAB researchers the most realistic testing
conditions to date for their coating technology. Working with the multi-million
dollar simulators should strongly indicate how well the team's nanostructured
multilayer diamond coatings reduce the friction and wear on the metal components
of orthopaedic devices, Vohra said. The team also will be able to examine the
cellular and tissue responses to the technology and confirm that there is no
toxicity effect from any wear debris that is generated.
"This partnership is central to advancing our research toward more reliable
and efficient joint replacements," Vohra said. "We are gaining access
to state-of-the-art testing equipment while benefitting from Smith and Nephew's
experience as the industry leader in advanced bearing-surfaces for joint replacement
implants."
The BRP also helps put the UAB coating technology on the fast track for commercialization,
as it will foster the private industry relationship necessary to secure investment
and production capacity, Vohra said.
The overall clinical impact of the BRP research is to drive down the number
of recurrent surgical procedures for joint replacement recipients, who are living
longer and pushing the longevity limits of their devices, Vohra said. The American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons reports that 15 to 20 percent of annual total
joint replacement procedures are recurrent, or revision, surgeries. Vohra said
the nanostructured diamond-coated devices should reduce the metal ion release
to the surrounding tissues and perform better during long-term implantation
in the human body, which could significantly cut the follow-up surgery rate.
The UAB interdisciplinary research team for the project includes Vohra, Susan
Bellis, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and biophysics, Aaron Catledge,
Ph.D., research assistant professor of physics, Alan Eberhardt, Ph.D., associate
professor of biomedical engineering and David Moore, M.D., Division of Orthopedic
Surgery.
Posted July 18th, 2009
|
