However, titanium or steel screws can cause problems--such as infections--and sometimes need to be removed, meaning a second operation.
Now, engineers at the Graz University of Technology have teamed up with a startup called Surgebright to make these screws of human bone.
Called Shark Screws, these are made from donated bone--typed to match the recipient to prevent rejection.
A year after surgery, they don't even show up on x-ray--they are part of the patient's bone.
Surgebright was created in 2016 with the German Institute of Tissue and Cell Replacement.
Other surgical innovations to watch for? Tissue scaffolds and a smart needle to be used in brain surgery.
Can you think of others?
For more info, go to http:/www.tugraz.at,
