A company affiliated with one fir which you are working has

A company affiliated with one fir which you are working has developed polymeric (e.g. PLLA) orthopedic screws which could be useful to repair serious bone fractures. In their first clinical trial company got some complains from surgeons. The screws were loosening at the joints. Their screws had enough strength, but they slightly lower stiffness to keep the broken bones together. Company had already invested millions of dollars to manufacture those screws and they were reluctant to invest more money to fix such minor problem from the beginning of manufacturing process. However, company asked all the junior engineers to come up with some idea so that the problem would be solved without imposing a major intervention in the production line. Being a biomedical engineer of that company what would be your plan to solve this problem? What further information would you request form the screw production team before you develop your plan.

Solution

A new form of medical screws have been developed which dissolves in body and helps in bone growth. This screw is the key element during bone implantation. The composite screw should be at the center containing titanium and polylactic acid screws at the right and left side respectively. The production of screws should be done in a proper manner so that the screws will be properly fix at that particular location. Pure form of metallic materials like titanium and polylactic acid should be used during the manufacturing of orthopedic screws.

Inserting a hardware device in the biological system may create disturbance like damaging the blood vessels, bacterial infections etc but the scientists are uncertain for this question.