OsteoMag-3D

OsteoMag-3D Sino-Malta

The OsteoMag-3D project brings together four distinguished institutions in an international collaboration between Malta and China. The University of Malta serves as the Maltese lead partner, working alongside Mater Dei Hospital. From China, Southeast University leads the Chinese consortium, partnered with Jiangxi University of Science and Technology. This 24-month research initiative is jointly funded by Xjenza Malta and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) through the SINO-MALTA Fund 2024.

The global demographic shift toward aging populations, particularly evident in China and Malta, creates increasing demand for advanced bone repair solutions. Traditional permanent orthopaedic implants, while mechanically robust, often require secondary removal surgeries due to long-term complications and stress shielding effects caused by stiffness mismatches with natural bone. Biodegradable magnesium-based implants offer promising alternatives, featuring bone-like elastic modulus, excellent biocompatibility, and osteogenic properties that actively promote bone growth. However, current research faces significant challenges including rapid degradation rates, hydrogen gas formation, and limited load-bearing capacity, particularly in porous scaffold applications where additive manufacturing techniques show great potential but remain technically challenging.

This project aims to develop additively manufactured biodegradable magnesium-based scaffolds suitable for load-bearing bone graft applications. The primary objectives include designing scaffolds with optimal mechanical properties through finite element analysis, controlling degradation rates through novel surface modification strategies, and ensuring biocompatibility while promoting bone regeneration. Key challenges addressed include magnesium's excessively rapid corrosion in physiological environments, the formation of hydrogen gas during degradation, and the technical difficulties of additive manufacturing magnesium alloys due to their high reactivity and flammability risks. The project will develop two innovative coating systems: layered double hydroxides loaded with phosphates, and a dual-layer phosphate/polymer coating system. Advanced testing methodologies include cutting-edge bone-on-a-chip devices for more accurate biological assessment and mock implantation surgeries in bone models to evaluate surgical feasibility. The multidisciplinary approach combines expertise in materials science, surface engineering, additive manufacturing, and clinical medicine.

The project expects to deliver surface-engineered magnesium scaffolds with controlled degradation rates that synchronize with bone regeneration timelines, eliminating the need for secondary removal surgeries. Key outcomes include optimized scaffold architectures with enhanced load-bearing capacity, validated surface modification techniques that provide adequate corrosion protection without compromising biocompatibility, and comprehensive biocompatibility data from advanced organ-on-a-chip testing. This advancement represents a significant step toward clinical application of personalized biodegradable implants, offering novel solutions for bone regeneration with substantial societal impact for aging populations.