Our bones – like our fingerprints – have their own unique set of identifiers, including mineral density, volume, and skeletal structure. This makes it tricky to create a one-size-fits-all approach for repairing and preventing fractures, especially for cancer patients who experience bone tumors that cause debilitating damage to their long bones and spine. But a biomedical engineer and an aerospace engineer have teamed up to explore how structural metamaterials may offer some solutions by preventing fracture before it happens.
“Bone metastasis patients have a lot of pain,” explained Richard Hall, a professor and biomedical engineer at the University of Leeds. “They can have fractures that can impinge on the spinal cord and cause paralysis. It’s very difficult for them. They just want to sit their grandchildren on their knee and have a reasonable quality of life.”
Metamaterials are fabricated using additive manufacturing. They have complex hierarchical and multiscale characteristics that react and respond to external elements like light, temperature, and other forms of energy. They’re primarily being explored for aerospace applications, explains Rob Hewson, an aeronautics engineer at ...
