Martina Doubková from the Department of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering won the award for the best Master thesis. She explored the possibilities of improving the surface finish of materials used to make bone implants. The announcement of the 21st Werner von Siemens Award took place on Thursday, February 28, 2019.

In practice, these implants, used as splints, are attached directly to the bone surface to correct complicated fractures. Alternatively, they are inserted into the centre of the bone during joint replacements, when artificial joints replace those that have been damaged by injury or disease. Mutual contact between bone cells and the implant is fundamentally influenced by the chemical and physical properties of the material used. Martina Doubková examined how bone cells behave in contact with a mechanically treated titanium alloy that has an oxide layer created by surface treatment using the plasma electrolytic oxidation method. The resulting implant could be used in practice as a splint to fix the fracture, as a nail or as a locking screw.

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