In a healthy person, when a bone breaks, the body’s natural response is to repair the break. This process is related to the blood supply in bone, and the bone forming cells found in the covering of the bone (periosteum), and in the bone itself.

There are diseases and circumstances that require metal implants to repair bone and joint defects. Traditionally the metal implants replace a part of a bone, as in a joint replacement, or are used to provide better structure for the bone as it heals, as with a plate along a fracture.

At the Denver Clinic for Extremities at Risk, new technologies are being utilized to take advantage of the body’s natural ability to heal bone and the property of metal implants to provide structural support. These foam metals have a “spongy, porous” appearance that allows blood vessels to weave through the metal, bringing bone forming cells into the implant, depositing bone in the holes in the metal. The bone that is formed within the foam metal is more similar to bone in that it has some flexibility (like normal bone) but is strong enough to hold the body’s weight.

Piece of foam metal

Removed bone on left with foam metal implant that will be used to replace it

Foam metal implant designed to replace knee tumor

Foam metal implant in the tibia, replacing the knee tumor

Research into improving foam metals continues – the goal is ultimately to develop a metal implant that can repair itself if it should break, no surgery required!

Read about a teenager with bone cancer who underwent a foam metal replacement of the bone the tumor was in.