A confident majority of people do not find a connection between objects of daily use, such as jacket clasps, air shafts in the house and camera lenses, and science. On the contrary, many people think that the everyday and scientific spheres of life are absolutely incompatible, but some of the most brilliant and breakthrough innovations of humanity have looked at nature, whose experience in the field of scientific and technological discoveries is beyond human capabilities. Biomimetic materials became the ideal solution for several essential technical problems because nature formed its ideas during billions of years of evolution, while humankind started its conscious stage of life relatively recently. Medical nanomaterials can certainly be called one of the most innovative biomimetic solutions, the natural structures of which are reflected in an industrial way of obtaining implantable bone tissues. This critical piece is aimed at analysing the invention of biomimicry, a nanofiber that imitates bone growth, in terms of technological challenges and solving problems.
The introduction of ideas and elements borrowed from wildlife into the design of technical devices or technological processes is commonly referred to as biomimetics. It is essential to understand that although the formation of a separate science is not extremely old, humanity throughout its existence has sought to use processes and phenomena specific to its environment. A significant proportion of biomimetic developments are in medicine, where the problem of bone tissue regeneration is significant (Ng et al. 480). Knowledge of how bones are formed in natural conditions and what mechanisms are responsible for this process has led to positive results in modern clinical practice.
First of all, it is essential to clarify that, until recently, the damaged tissue of a patient was subjected to surgery or transplantation from a donor to a patient’s body. Nevertheless, this option is closely linked to risks, as there is always a danger of immune incompatibility between bone tissues of different people and incorrect surgery outcomes, which will result in poor bone fusion. Nanomaterials synthesised according to biomimetic principles can solve the problem of compatibility and economy of production since they are almost identical to those tissues which are created by the body itself. It is important to note that human internal bone tissues have a rich chemical composition, including carbonate ions, fluorides, as well as calcium phosphate, and even hydroxyapatite (Barba et al. 8818). An in-depth study of the biochemical composition makes it possible to recreate a material to replace damaged tissues.
The artificial creation of a nanocomposite that contains two layers of calcium orthophosphate applied to a gelatin nanofiber foundation allows the simulation of a natural capillary effect that intensifies the construction of bone tissue. The nanofibers represent an excellent bone base, with a high porosity that brings them closer to an extracellular matrix. Moreover, there are often clinical cases when already applied biomimetic nanomaterials are modified with additional metallic properties in order to achieve the bilateral effect: increased gene expression and improvement of chemical-physical characteristics of the implant (Mali et al. 787). Summing up, it is essential to reiterate that biomimetic materials help in the development of bone tissue implants, which should be highly compatible, elastic, durable, low-toxic, and contain osteoinductive growth factors.
Based on the above, it can be concluded that there are several important limitations before using biomimetic nanomaterials to recreate the bone tissue of patients. In particular, human bones are unique in their biochemical composition, since the area of mineralisation depends on the genetics and epigenetics of the individual. For this reason, the creation of porous nanofibers is linked to the analytical determination of the structure of human bone tissue. Moreover, when implanting artificial material in the natural environment, one should always expect that there is a probability of non-stigmatisation, so patients need constant control of bone tissue maturation. Finally, it is not always possible to determine the quality of the regenerated artificial structure, so in many cases, physicians rely on their knowledge and experience.
Works Cited
Barba, Albert, et al. “Impact of Biomimicry in the Design of Osteoinductive Bone Substitutes: Nanoscale Matters.” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, vol. 11, no. 9, 2019, pp. 8818-8830.
Mali, et al. “Biomimetic Nanostructured Hydroxyapatite Coatings on Metallic Implant Materials.” Materials Technology, vol. 31, no. 13, 2016, pp. 782-790.
Ng, Johnathan, et al. “Biomimetic Approaches for Bone Tissue Engineering.” Tissue Engineering Part B: Reviews, vol. 23, no. 5, 2017, pp. 480-493.