Biomaterials Center Attempts to Put Kansas on the Medtech Map

Wichita-based researchers' spirits are soaring in the wake of early tests that have demonstrated bone regeneration using aviation composites. This achievement comes roughly one year after Kansas officials declared intentions to apply its expertise in aviation manufacturing and related composite materials to the medical device industry.

In just one year of operation, the Center of Innovation for Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Research (CIBOR), part of Wichita State University, has reported that it successfully regrew a portion of a rat's femur using a porous scaffolding constructed from an aviation composite. "In only six weeks, bone and even blood vessels grew through the matrix of material and reconnected the two separated cuts," the Wichita Eagle reports. This is the first time that bone regeneration has been accomplished using aviation composites, according to the scientists.

The researchers also told the newspaper that, with proper funding, they believe that they could take the technology into clinical development within two years. If commercialized, this bone-regeneration method could someday eliminate the need for amputations and spare patients from the associated trauma and potential decrease in quality of life.

In addition to serving as a platform for bone regeneration, aviation composites show promise for a bevy of other medical applications--a hypothesis that Wichita officials and CIBOR scientists plan on proving to boost the local economy. The center will continue to pursue the incorporation of the composites into other devices as well, including fracture fixation devices and surgical instruments, among others.