Synthetic Bones.

Synthetic bones designed by AI set to transform orthopedic surgery. New synthetic material mimics human bone for better fracture repairs, utilizing machine learning and 3D printing.

Researchers have developed a bone-like synthetic material using machine learning and 3D printing, aimed at enhancing orthopedic treatments. This new material could potentially replace traditional surgical methods, reducing complications and improving healing.

Despite their irregular architectures, natural materials like bones and bird feathers have an extremely efficient approach to physical stress distribution. However, the exact relationship between stress modulation and their structures has long eluded scientists. In a recent study, researchers have used machine learning, optimization, 3D printing, and stress experiments to develop a material that replicates the functionalities of human bone for orthopedic femur restoration, revealing insights into this complex relationship.

Fractures of the femur, the long bone in the upper leg, are a widespread injury in humans and are prevalent among elderly individuals. The broken edges cause stress to concentrate at the crack tip, increasing the chances that the fracture will lengthen.

Conventional methods of repairing a fractured femur typically involve surgical procedures to attach a metal plate around the fracture with screws, which may cause loosening, chronic pain, and further injury.

The research was led by Shelly Zhang, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, along with graduate student Yingqi Jia and Professor Ke Liu from Peking University. Their work, published in Nature Communications, introduces an innovative approach to orthopedic repair that uses a fully controllable computational framework to produce a material that mimics bone.

In the lab, Zhang’s team used 3D printing to fabricate a full-scale resin prototype of the new bio-inspired material and attached it to a synthetic model of a fractured human femur. Zhang said this technique can be applied to various biological implants wherever stress manipulation is needed.