Bone fractures require special care to heal properly. In some cases a cast and precautions are sufficient, but in serious injury treatment becomes more delicate.

Now a team of Swiss researchers is investigating the use of metallic glass, a biodegradable material that can be dissolved in the body after fulfilling its restorative function.

Many fractures require orthopedic place and set screws, pins or plates fixed to keep the bone while it heals. These implants are made of stainless steel or titanium, and its implementation involves two surgeries: one for them and another to remove them. The news is that the new material that is developing this procedure could reduce by half, meaning that only need an operation.

Achieving this feat is not easy. The biodegradable material should permit the manufacture of nails or plates strong, rigid and durable, and well-should “dissolve” over time, causing no damage to the body. Faced with this challenge, scientists are testing a material that they believe will work.

The investigations focused on alloys made from magnesium, but the problem of this compound is that, when dissolved, it produces hydrogen atom “liberated” is harmful to the body. In addition, magnesium is formed around the gas bubbles that affect healing and increase the chances of developing an infection.

Given these findings, scientists from ETH Zurich have developed a new alloy in the form of metallic glass combining magnesium with zinc and calcium atoms. They found that this material is completely biocompatible and degrades in a way that it does not affect human metabolism.

The key to making this product is in the rapid cooling of the liquid material, which allows adding more zinc than that generally can be used in conventional magnesium alloys. The new metallic glass has developed a 35% zinc, 5% calcium and magnesium is the rest.

Early animal studies showed no bubbles of hydrogen, so that researchers are hopeful the use of this repair material.