Local doctors have treated 18 bone disease patients by implanting a new type of artificial bone developed by Chinese scientists with Nano technology.

A group of scientists, led by Professor Cui Fuzhai from Tsinghua University, in Beijing, spent six years developing the man-made bone, dubbed the "Nano bone."

What makes the new technology different from traditional therapies is that the artificial structure planted in the human body disintegrates gradually over a period of time.

According to the experts, once the artificial bone is implanted,the human bone corpuscle grows and "scrambles" into the man-made biological structure. The bone-dissolving corpuscle then "consumes" the artificial bone, and the bone-forming corpuscle builds up the new human bone, step by step.

Eventually, the entire artificial implant is absorbed by the human body and replaced by human bone corpuscle.

The Nano-bone technology has obtained official approval for clinical testing, and it has been implanted in 18 patients in a military hospital in Beijing and a medical college in Jiangsu Province.

Annually, China has 250,000 patients who require bone repair following the removal of bone tumors. In the past, artificial bones were made of metal, ceramic materials and macromolecular materials.

(Liu Aixiang 22-04-2003)