£1.2m EPSRC funding utilised in healthcare nanotechnology

EPSRC funding worth £1.2m will be used as part of a four-year project to develop new ways of manufacturing and scaling up the production of nanoparticles and nanocomposites to be used for drug delivery and bone tissue regeneration.

Prof Andrew Parsons from Nottingham University’s faculty of engineering explained that nanocomposites provide a means of achieving significant improvements in mechanical properties over other materials that are currently being used in certain areas of healthcare.

‘We will be combining hydroxyapatite nanoplatelets with resorbable plastics to create implant materials that will be able to fix things such as fractures,’ said Parsons.

In this way healing can be achieved, followed by the gradual disappearance of the implant and as a result the patient can avoid the need for either a permanent metal implant or secondary surgery to remove the metal.

‘Nanocomposites are well suited to use in this way as the bones of the body are already natural hydroxyapatite nanocomposites,’ said Parsons.