gms | German Medical Science

In the next time people who need endoprothesis or other orthopaedic metal implants will be older. Otherwise not only the internal problems of this patients increase and also the structure of bone is worst. That's way healing of orthopaedic metal implants may be severely compromised in old and osteoporotic patients. The problems are reduced healing capacity of bone, lack of precursor cells for new bone formation and others.

Implants have a good chance if the activity of bone healing is better as normal and more quickly. It is known that BMP-2 stimulates the activity of bone healing. But till now radiologic methods were not able to demonstrate the early bone healing, only histologic cuttings show the healing process.

In contrast to this the Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI) a new radiologic method is in a position to show the early bone healing. The method rest on the separate of analysis particular images usually summation-effect conventional radiologic images.

We investigate early bone healing-effects of special implant cylinders in old sheep with DEI. Results were not only more bone mass on surface of the cylinders but also the structure of new builded bones. We have seen onion like, surface faced structures and bone growth into the negative profile of the cylinders. The resolution of the DEI images are as high as histological ones.

In the future it will be possible to investigate the early bone healing on the implant in the human, but now it is limited because of the detector-size.