Silk fibroin-reinforced composites for resorbable load-bearing fixation devices

There are more than 9 million bone fractures in the United States annually, and over 30% of them require some type of internal fixation device to help properly heal.¹ Such devices are fixated onto the fractured bone to provide ample support during the healing process, and the current clinical standard for these devices relies on the use of metals, such as titanium or stainless steel, due to their great mechanical properties.² However, metallic fixation devices have been known to cause stress shielding, where the surrounding bone degrades around the implant. Previous efforts to make degradable fixation devices out of polymers have resulted in materials with poor mechanical properties. As such, this research aims to create a viable solution for a load bearing fixation device with the use of silk fibroin (SF) and single crystal hydroxyapatite (HA) nano-whiskers that fully degrades in the body over time.