Tina Hashemi is a PhD researcher in I-Form working in the area of additive manufacturing of magnesium-based medical implants. She completed her master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch, Iran. Her focus was on the effect of osteotomy surgery on biomechanical parameters using finite element modelling. Before starting her PhD, Tina worked as an engineer in a Research Centre for Science and Technology in Medicine, affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). During this time, she designed a patient-specific instrument (PSI) for osteotomy and total knee replacement surgery for use with specific implants. Tina started her PhD in 2021 at Dublin City University in the Advanced Metallic Centre for Doctoral Training PhD programme and her main research interests relate to the use of metals in orthopaedic applications.
Research Interests (Lay Summary)
Magnesium (Mg) alloys have attracted significant interest as a promising and revolutionary metallic biomaterial owing to their good biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, biodegradability and avoidance of a second surgery. These alloys have a Young’s modulus similar to that of human bone, which can effectively reduce the stress-shielding effect in orthopaedic applications. The degradable properties of Mg and its alloys are, however, a double-edged sword due to severe degradation reactions in the physiological environment, which will result in rapid mechanical integrity loss or even collapse of magnesium-based implants before injured tissues heal. Tina’s research focus is on the design, fabrication and in-service performance characterisation of magnesium medical implants for bone tissue repair and regeneration.
Technical Summary
An additive manufacturing technology approach for improving the properties and clinical performance of Mg medical implants offers an innovative platform for implant optimisation, improved manufacture, and better clinical outcomes. Exposing Mg alloys to additive manufacturing offers great commercial potential, but due to the increase of free surface by rendering more complex geometries, the problems of increased degradation kinetics and faster rates of corrosion become even more pronounced. Surface coating is one of the simplest and the most efficient routes to reduce the degradation rate and improve corrosion resistance while maintaining biocompatibility. Tina is working on the development of novel manufacturing routes and coatings to reduce the degradation rate and improve the corrosion resistance of Mg implants, which are critical for augmenting the long-term clinical success for skeletal repair.