Wooden Bones
It's odd to think of putting sticks of wood inside people
as a revolutionary medical procedure, but that's exactly what
a group of Italian scientists is working on. They're using
wood — red oak, rattan and sipo work best — to
create an artificial bone replacement called carbonated hydroxyapatite.
Because of the sponginess of the wood, live bones are expected
to grow into the structure faster than with traditional titanium
or ceramic implants, decreasing the time it takes to mend
a broken bone. The procedure isn't quite ready for human testing,
so sheep are currently testing the artificial bones.
Researchers say that with the bone substitute, which takes
approximately one week to process, they can create virtually
any size or shape
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