Josefina Ballarre

This project is being carried on in the framework of the „Renewal fellowship for Experienced Researchers – Georg Forster“ (2018-2019) from the _Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Nowadays, magnesium alloys are in the spotlight as they can find applications as biodegradable orthopedic implants [1]. This fact eliminates the need of implant removal surgery, meaning a reduction in sanitary costs and patient post-operatory suffering. However, these alloys have the drawback of hydrogen evolution during degradation (corrosion), which could generate tissue inflammation and pain [2] as well as poor bone osseointegration. The general objective of this research is to generate a bioactive, antibacterial and partially protective coating system onto biodegradable magnesium alloy implants, composed by a multi-layer sprayed sol-gel silica based coating [3] loaded with bioactive glass particles and antibiotics to confer bioactivity and antibaceterial effects. The final aim is to retard implant degradation and enhance bone regeneration at early times,  in addition to avoiding possible bacterial infection.

[1] H. Hornberger, S. Virtanen, A.R. Boccaccini, Biomedical coatings on magnesium alloys – A review, Acta Biomaterialia 8 (2012) 2442-2455.

[2] F. Witte, V. Kaese, H. Haferkamp, E. Switzer, A. Meyer-Lindenberg, C.J. Wirth, H. Windhagen, In vivo corrosion of four magnesium alloys and the associated bone response, Biomaterials, 26 (2005) 3557-3563.

[3] S. Omar, Y. Castro, J. Ballarre, W. Schreiner, A. Durán, S. Ceré, Magnesium alloys implants coated with 58S sol gel bioactive glass to retard first stage corrosion, Corrosion, 273 (2017) 1448-1460.