Novel anti-cancer orthopedic materials: Nanostructured selenium

Metallic bone implants possess numerous problems limiting their efficacy, such as poor osseointegration, stress shielding, and corrosion in in vivo environments. In addition, these materials were not originally developed to simultaneously serve as an orthopedic implant and treat bone cancer (for which some patients require an orthopedic implant). This study is to investigate the potential use of selenium in bone implants to prevent bone cancer from re-occurring and support new bone growth. For this, selenium, spherical or semispherical shots, were etched using NaOH to obtain various surface structures ranging from the micron, sub micron to nano scales. Through these etching techniques, biologically inspired surface roughness values were created on selenium to match that of natural bone. In this manner, this study suggests a promising future for nanostructured selenium in orthopedic applications involving bone cancer treatment.