Osteomyelitis is an infection in the bone that can be acquired through a variety of ways. In order to combat this, orthopedic surgeons used PMMA as a drug delivery vessel, which is a way to introduce antibiotics to the site while also stabilizing the area.

There are two major problems with PMMA. One is that it is not biodegradable. Surgeons usually have to go back in to remove the PMMA and sometimes this can cause further harm as it disrupts new bone growth. Second, the PMMA released antibiotics in a ‘burst’ effect, meaning most of the drugs are eluted out in the first 3 days.

The proposed design is for a magnesium-based biomaterial that is coated with layers of a PLA – Vancomycin solution. This allows for Vancomycin to be released at a consistent rate, as small burst of Vancomycin would be released as layers of PLA degrade. Magnesium is also biodegradable, has properties similar to native bone, and is osteoconductive which makes it a strong candidate for bone applications.

In this specific research, the focus was on characterizing and understating how PLA would work in our system.

Team Members

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Project Mentors, Sponsors, and Partners

• Timothy Weihs

• Beril Ulugun

• Kerri-lee Chintersingh

• Ryan Guilbault

Course Faculty

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Project Links

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Additional Project Information