Implant

An implant is a medical device manufactured to replace a missing biological structure, support a damaged biological structure or enhance an existing biological structure. Medical implants are manmade devices where as transplants are transferred biomedical tissue. The surface of implants that contact the body might be made of a biomedical material such as titanium, silicone or apatite, depending on what is the most functional. In some cases, implants contain electronics, as found in artificial pacemakers and cochlear implants. Some implants are bioactive like subcutaneous drug delivery devices--implantable pills or drug-eluting stents. Among the most common types of medical implants are pins, rods, screws and plates that anchor fractured bones as they heal. Electrical-powered Implants An electrical implant is like an artificial pacemaker, which helps to regulate the heart rhythm. Lithium-ion batteries provide long lasting sources of energy to such a device. Bio-implants A bio-implant is a biomaterial surgically implanted in the body to replace damaged tissue. Common bio-implants are orthopedic re-constructive prosthesis, cardiac prostheses, skin and the corneas. Breast Implants A breast implant alters the size and shape of the breasts of a person. There are two primary types of breast implants: saline-filled and silicone-gel-filled. Saline implants have a silicone elastomer shell filled with sterile saline liquid. Silicone gel implants have a silicone shell filled with a viscous silicone gel. Dental Implants Dental implants are one of the few permanent implants that cross the boundary between the inside and the outside of the body. The bone of the mandible or maxilla holds the base of the implant and the top of the implant is in the mouth. Orthopedic Implants In orthopedic surgery, implants may refer to devices over or within bones that hold a fracture in place. Prostheses are the more appropriate term for devices that replace a part or whole of a defunct joint. In this context, implants exist both within and outside the body. There are many types of orthopedic implants. Implants correct an affected joint so that it withstands normal movement and stress. Implants enhance mobility and decrease the pain a patient feels. Orthopedic implants are available for the hip, knee, shoulder and elbow. Some examples of orthopedic implants are: safety locking plates; interlocking nails; nails, wires and pins; cranio-maxillofacial implants; mini fragment implants; small fragment implants; large fragment implants; cannulated screws; dhs/dcs & angled blade plates; hip prosthesis; acl/pcl reconstruction system; spine surgery and other external fixators. Implant Complications The process of implanting a medical device is subject to the same complications as any other invasive medical procedure, including infection, inflammation and pain. The body can also reject implants if the host immune system fights the implant as a foreign body. Failures There are many examples of implant failures, including burst of silicone breast implants, hip replacement joint breaks and artificial heart valve ruptures. The consequences of implant failure depend on the critical nature of the implant and its position in the body. Therefore, heart valve failure is likely to threaten the life of the individual, while breast implant or hip joint failure is less likely to be life threatening.

More Resources

Personalized Medicine

Personalized medicine is a medical model emphasizing the systematic use of information about an individual patient to select or optimize that patient's preventative and therapeutic care. Personalized medicine is the products and services that leverage the science of genomics and proteomics and capitalize on the trends toward wellness and consumerism to enable tailored approaches to prevention and care. Over the past century, medical care has centered on standards of care based on epidemiological studies of large cohorts. Personalized medicine seeks to provide an objective basis for consideration of such individual differences. Traditionally, personalized medicine has been limited to the consideration of a patient's family history, social circumstances, environment, and behaviors in tailoring individual care. Personalized medicine uses new methods of molecular analysis to manage a patient’s disease or predisposition toward a disease. It aims to achieve optimal medical outcomes by helping physicians and patients choose the disease management approaches likely to work best in the context of a patient’s genetic and environmental profile. Such approaches may include genetic screening programs that more precisely diagnose diseases and their sub-types, or help physicians select the type and dose of medication best suited to a certain group of patients. Personalized medicine is an extension of traditional approaches to understanding and treating illness. Since the beginning of the study of medicine, physicians have employed evidence found through observation to make a diagnosis or to prescribe treatment. In the modern concept of personalized medicine, the tools provided to the physician are more precise, probing not just the obvious, such as a tumor on a mammogram or cells under a microscope, but the very molecular makeup of each patient. Looking at the patient on this level helps the physician get a profile of the patient’s genetic distinction, or mapping. By investigating this genetic mapping, medical professionals are then able to profile patients, and use the found information to plan a course of treatment that is much more in step with the way their body works. Genomic medicine and personalized medicine use genetic information to prevent or treat disease in adults or their children. Having a genetic map or a profile of a patient’s genetic variation can then guide the selection of drugs or treatment processes. This can minimize side effects or to create a strategy for a more successful outcome from the medical treatment. Helping the physician cover all the bases is imperative. Genetic mapping can also indicate the propensity to contract certain diseases before the patient actually shows recognizable symptoms, allowing the physician and patient to put together a plan for observation and prevention. Personalized medicine, when coupled with personal pharmacogenetics, is a unique approach that may be well suited for the health challenges we face in the new millennium. Although the medical and scientific communities, through research and discovery, got the upper hand over many of the diseases we have encountered since the advent of advanced medicine, many diseases that are more complicated. Diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s are caused by a combination of genetic and other factors. Coupled with the fact that they tend to be chronic, they place a significant burden on not only the patient, but on the healthcare system as a whole. Personalized medicine aims to provide the tools and knowledge to fight chronic diseases and treat them more effectively than ever before. Genetic profiles can help physicians to better discern subgroups of patients with various forms of cancer, in addition to other complex diseases, helping to guide doctors with accurate forms of predictive medicine and preventative medicine. With personalized medicine, the physician is intending to select the best treatment protocol or even, in many cases, avoid passing the expense and risks of unnecessary medical treatments on to the patient altogether. In addition, personalized medicine, when used correctly, aims to guide tests that detect variation in the way individual patients metabolize various pharmaceuticals. Personalized medicine is working to help determine the right dose for a patient, helping to avoid hazards based on familial history, environmental influences, and genetic variation.