New material breakthrough for skull repair in children

  The skull is the most important structure protecting the brain. According to statistics, more than 20,000 children suffer from cranial defects due to traffic accidents and mishaps every year. How to give children with cranial defects maximum protection from both psychological and physical damage has been the focus of many years of research by Professor Zhang Yuqi of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Second Affiliated (Yuquan) Hospital of Tsinghua University. As a leading figure in pediatric neurosurgery in China, he concluded through summarizing countless cases that the titanium mesh and silicone materials currently on the market are not suitable for children’s skull repair, and the material closest to human bone has the best effect for skull repair!  At the same time, Professor Cui Fuzhai from the Department of Materials of Tsinghua University researched the bionic bone material with the same composition and nanostructure as natural human bone, which is the cranial bone repair material that Professor Zhang Yuqi dreamed of. After years of systematic research with the most advanced international electron microscope, Professor Cui finally discovered the complex and orderly hierarchical structure of natural bone, unveiled the mystery of bone formation, and deciphered the “code” of human bone assembly structure! Through the orderly mineralization of collagen with nano-level hydroxyapatite crystals, a bionic bone closest to human bone was synthesized outside the human body. Then, through Professor Zhang’s elaborate surgery, the bionic bone was seamlessly connected to the defective bone window, which is the first of its kind in the world!  This technology has not only won several 863 projects in China, but also won the second prize of National Technical Invention in 2008, the second prize of National Natural Science in 2011 (the first prize is vacant), four Chinese invention patents and one US invention patent. The internationally renowned journal “Nature Materials” also gave the product high praise. This is the only product among China’s Class III implants to receive such an award, and it has become a key product project supported by the state because of its fully independent intellectual property rights technology!  This bionic bone material has excellent biocompatibility, no rejection after implantation, no fever, no infection, no thermal and electrical conductivity, no influence on MRI, the bionic bone can fuse and grow with the cranial bone at the edge of the defect and eventually become one, without affecting the cranial growth and development of the child, and has achieved one successful cranial bone repair case after another in our affiliated hospitals!  The gentleman will never rest on his laurels! The motto of Tsinghua University has infected generation after generation of students, who have been striving for self-improvement and exploration for the advancement of science and technology! The earth is a place of virtue and virtue! The medical practitioner uses benevolence to help the world with great love! The development of science and technology and medical care together will certainly hold up the blue sky of life!