UQ-HBI PhD scholarship: Bioresorbable Metals for Intraoperative Ligation Clips: In Vitro and Biomechanical Engineering Experiments

This PhD position is available within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering and will be a part of the CranioFacial program within the Herston Biofabrication Institute (HBI).

This project aims to test and develop a range of metal alloys that may be suitable as a replacement for implanted intraoperative ligation clips. These are currently manufactured from titanium or stainless steel, largely for their ideal mechanical properties such as strength, ductility, malleability and biocompatibility. These ligation clips serve a purpose for a period of time and then become redundant, potentially requiring another surgical procedure to remove them. There are also risks of these becoming problematic over time.

This materials and mechanical engineering project will focus on the development and analysis of metal alloys (including Mg, Zn and Fe) for comparison to pure metals (Mg, Zn and Fe) suitable to be used as ligation clips to degrade within the body. The project will be conducted in two phases:

1. Assessment for suitability of pure biodegradable metals
   • Preparation of wires and test materials.
2. Property development for fit-for-purpose biodegradable metallic biomaterial.
   • Occlusion test design.
   • In Vitro Immersion tests for degradation analysis.

This project contributes to a larger collaborative project between The University of Queensland and the HBI.