Magnesium Can Fix Your Injury or Disease, Then Vanish

The vast majority of magnesium is used for die casting in aircraft, military equipment, power tools and bicycle frames. And the automotive industry uses over 70 percent of magnesium alloys to reduce engine weight and as parts of engines, brakes and gear boxes. But magnesium is also gaining attention as a super metal that can swoop in to fix you and then magically disappear when its job is done.

It was not that long ago that magnesium was recognized as important to our physical wellbeing. Now, it is being used as an antacid, laxative and antiseptic and can alleviate conditions such as muscle cramps, constipation, hypertension, aggressive behavior and sickle cell disease. It has also become a dietary supplement and is considered as important as vitamins.

But recently, magnesium’s role in medical treatment has started to look more like science fiction. John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently released a study that describes how devices made of magnesium and silicon and wrapped in silk cocoons were inserted into lab mice and left to dissolve. The implants were designed to generate heat to fight infections after surgery. According to Rogers, similar devices could be programmed to monitor the body and release drugs accordingly or produce an electric current to accelerate bone healing.

Magnesium Elektron, a UK-based researcher and maker of magnesium products, has also been working on developing bioabsorbable magnesium alloys.

“The last decade has seen a significant increase in the amount of research being undertaken across the globe on bioabsorbable materials, particularly in the fields of orthopaedic trauma fixation and vascular intervention, where the use of metallic implants is commonplace,” the company said in March. “Magnesium alloys offer the potential to combine the mechanical property benefits of metallic implants with the bio-absorbable nature of degradable polymers.”

The fact that it is the fourth-most abundant material in the human body is what makes it possible to insert magnesium or magnesium alloys into the human body and leave them to be dissolved without adverse effects.

“In addition, because it can be eliminated very fast from the body via the kidney or intestine, it is ideal for use in medical treatments and implants,” said Dr. Frank Witte, director of biomaterial research at the Laboratory for Biomechanics and Biomaterials at the Hanover Medical School in Germany. “Coronary diseases are most common and would benefit from magnesium stents the most,” Witte said, adding that “bone fractures and bone correction operations could be ideal for the application of magnesium implants.”

“The implants based on magnesium or its alloys corrode after implantation and thus serve only for a certain time until the host tissue is healed or regenerated,” Witte commented. So, for example, if the metal is used as bone fixture on an orthopedic injury, you don’t have to remove it when the bone has healed. “It is dissolvable in the human body and can be eliminated by the kidneys and via the intestine.”

Witte is also associated with the NSF Engineering Research Center, which is investigating the uses of biodegradable metals. It and other research communities are dedicated to researching metallic biodegradable materials and they meet once a year to discuss their findings.

Magnesium-based implants currently being considered are cardiovascular implants such as Berlin-based BIOTRONIK’s “Dreams” implant, a biodegradable vascular stenting device that is currently undergoing clinical trials on 46 patients. Witte said other companies are in preclinical trials for orthopedic implants and those may soon be seen in clinical trials and in clinical applications.

While currently no magnesium implants have received regulatory approval, Witte is convinced this will happen “very soon.”

Securities Disclosure: I, Ragnhild Kjetland, hold no investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.