Sensing bone healing: nanomedicine fights fractures

By Smitha Mundasad

Sensors that could be implanted in the body to collect data about fracture healing are being developed by Turkish and American researchers.

“More than 10 per cent of fractures do not heal properly, but doctors are not able to see the bones healing, instead they have to make educated guesses,” said Emre Unal, a nanotechnologist at Bilkent University in Turkey.

In experimental models, sensors are applied to metal plates, similar to ones used by surgeons to fix fractures in place. The wireless sensors can then pick up information on the strain applied to them.

The nanotechnologists hypothesise that, over time, as bones heal and patients start to become mobile, less strain will be detected by the sensors as more will be taken up by the healing bone. When fully developed, they suggest, a doctor could monitor strain data over time to check whether a fracture is healing as expected. This important information could be obtained without scans and invasive procedures.

Experiments are currently taking place on sheep metatarsals in the US, which show promising results.

There are still, however, many barriers that need to be overcome if this is to become a clinically useful tool. “Sensors will need to be made of biocompatible material, and tests will have to take place on human bones,” explained Unal.

“Nanotechnological advances are set to make a huge contribution to medicine,” said Mohan, a Bristol surgeon.