From Hai Xuan
An advanced synthesized substitute for autograft bone, developed by Professor Cui Fu-Zhai and his colleagues in the Department of Material Science and Engineering at Tsinghua University, will soon be exported to Viet Nam. The material, named Nano-hydroxyapatite/collagen (NHAC) bone graft, has proven to be an ideal substitute for bone after being used with no side effects in more than 5,000 patients suffering from bone defects and fractures.
The NHAC bone graft was the first commercialized nanotechnology medical product developed in China. It gained approval from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) to enter clinical trails in November 2002. In April 2005, it was permitted to be manufactured and used as bone graft material by the SFDA. The technique to make NHAC bone graft material received patent approval from the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2005.
Commercialization procedures are being negotiated with companies from the U.S., Brazil, and Viet Nam. A project aimed at promoting the use of this new kind of artificial bone material is now underway across Vietnam.
One of the advantages of the NHAC bone graft is that it does not trigger an immune reaction as such other widely used bone grafts as allograft and xenograft do. The NHAC bone graft stimulates regeneration of broken bones while being absorbed naturally by the body.
NHAC used in spine fusion operation
(Photos Provided by Professor Cui Fu-Zhai)
