Metal glass (top), traditional magnesium alloy (bottom), © 2009 ETH Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A substance that can stabilize broken bones as they heal, then is absorbed by the body when it is no longer needed, has been developed by materials researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (FITZ). The new  material, called metal glass, is an alloy of magnesium, zinc and calcium that is cooled extremely rapidly to prevent it from forming the typical crystalline structure of a metal. The team announced the news in the science journal Nature Materials.

It can be stronger than a metal, and because it has such a high zinc content (35 percent), its degradation properties are different from the traditional crystalline alloy implants. These produce hydrogen as they degrade inside the body and can lead to infections and interfere with the bone healing process.

Implants that degrade inside the body and are eliminated avoid the need for follow-up surgery to remove plates and pins which are often inserted to support broken bones as they heal.

Links to other sites: Nature Materials, Physics World

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