New Delhi: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee have come up with a new, low-cost method for treating Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease which leads to loss of bone cartilage and eventual inflammation of bone and joints. The research published in the ‘Journal for Materials Science – Biomaterials’ talks about the use of implantable ferromagnetic nanoparticles with thermal properties for hyperthermia treatment of the afflicted knee joints.
Lead by Professor K L Yadav, the team at IIT Roorkee developed a specific ferrite nanomaterial, which when embedded with Poly (vinylidene fluoride) is proposed as a biocompatible magnetic-dielectric composite to provide prolonged thermo-regulated treatment. These polymers based nanoparticles injected around the knee joint along with normal heat therapy will be able to provide long term heat therapy for the patient.
The team studied the effectiveness of the developed composite for the hyperthermia treatment using a model of Knee Patella in COMSOL Multiphysics software and preliminary biocompatibility studies were also undertaken to ensure safe biomedical application and use.