May 26, 2009

UNT professor to study materials used to repair, restore bones

DENTON (UNT), Texas -- Bioactive glasses can help restore and repair bones, act as coatings for knee and hip replacements and assist in drug delivery.

But researchers still don't know much about the complex structure of the materials, which limits their potential.

Jincheng Du, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of North Texas, will conduct a three-year project to further our understanding of bioactive glasses, which is a group of biocompatible, surface reactive glass-ceramics developed in the late 1960s.

The work could help scientists develop better designs of the glasses, discover new applications and improve the quality of life for millions of people. Bioactive glasses are able to bond to bone and soft tissue, which makes them invaluable to bone growth and development.

"We have an aging population and increasing number of patients that need bone restoration and treatment due to disease or trauma," Du said. "Success of the project will lead to a more rational design of bioactive glasses for various applications."

The research is being funded by a $220,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Du will use computational simulations combined with neutron and X-ray diffraction to characterize the structure of glasses. He also will study how bioactive glasses dissolve in fluids, which could help scientists know how to best use them in gradual drug delivery.

Du will synthesize and characterize the materials using facilities at UNT's Center for Advanced Research and Technology, a federally funded collection of high-powered microscopes and other imaging equipment used for characterizing materials.

Neutron and high energy X-ray diffraction studies for the project will be carried out at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

Graduate and undergraduate students will work with Du on the project, which begins this summer.