Tim Carmody lost a small section of bone in his right forearm and was lucky that he could get a bone graft from his fibula. That wouldn’t work for everyone though; most people need a titanium rod, which has the stability but not the flexibility of bone. Tim talks about a new substance that might solve both problems.
Fraunhofer, a German industrial and medical research firm, has actually created such a substance with their TiFoam project. The titanium foam has a complex internal structure that allows blood vessels and existing bone cells to grow into the foam, integrating them into its own matrix (and vice versa). This makes the foam particularly useful to repair damaged bones that are still partially intact, like the radius in my arm.
Bonus: this also brings us closer to building cyborgs.
10/01/10 4:14 PM
"Titanium Foam" is my new rap name.