Development of an intraosseous transcutaneous orthopaedic implant (ITAP) resistant to bacteria infections through the combination of passive and active strategies

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

If a leg, arm, finger or thumb has had to be amputated, or is missing at birth, an artificial substitute (known as a**prosthetic limb or prosthesis) may be fitted. Prosthetic limbs usually have a socket and are held in place either**by suction or by being strapped to the stump of the missing limb. However, this leads to major drawbacks such**as irritation of the stump or phantom limb syndrome. In this context, the implantation of intraosseous**transcutaneous prostheses (ITAP) was described as the most physiological, and thus probably successful,**approach to prevent the previously evoked problems. In this procedure, a metal implant is inserted through the**skin and into the centre of the bone of the stump. A prosthetic limb is then attached to the metal implant. The**aim is to produce a more comfortable and securely attached prosthetic limb.**Unfortunately, the point where ITAP exits from the human body is often the site for infections which could be**potentially eliminated by proper integration of dermal and epidermal tissues around the implant, creating a soft**tissue seal around it. In addition, a complete prevention of the infection also requires endowing the prosthetic**device with bacteria-killing properties.**Accordingly, our objective is to provide titanium (which is the material used by our industrial partner to**build-up orthopaedic implants) with two functional properties that are both likely to prevent bacterial**colonization. These properties are 1) the capability of promoting skin cell adhesion and spreading on the**surface; this is a passive functionality and 2) providing the surface with antibacterial properties; this is an**active functionality.