{"id":11973,"date":"2025-02-17T09:04:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=11973"},"modified":"2025-02-17T09:04:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:04:20","slug":"uw-whitewater-chemistry-student-helps-land-u-s-patent","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-whitewater-chemistry-student-helps-land-u-s-patent\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Whitewater chemistry student helps land U.S. patent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Chemistry student Foster Boom prepares pieces of tungsten. Associate Professor of Chemistry Steven Girard with students in his lab on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 (UW-Whitewater photo\/Craig Schreiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Foster Boom traces his first memories of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater back to a field trip taken as an eighth-grade student at Mahone Middle School in Kenosha.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we extracted strawberry or corn DNA,\u201d Boom said. \u201cUW-Whitewater was always in the back of my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from Libertyville High School in Illinois, Boom enrolled in a different college in the fall of 2019, but soon looked to transfer after his academic program was eliminated. He took a year and a half off in the wake of the COVID pandemic before becoming a Warhawk in the fall of 2022.<\/p>\n

Boom, a\u00a0chemistry<\/a>\u00a0major who is now in his senior year, and Steven Girard, associate professor of chemistry, recently teamed up to help Girard file a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent application through\u00a0WiSys<\/a>\u00a0titled \u201cBIOACTIVE GLASS-SILICIDE COATINGS FOR OSSEOINTEGRATABLE METAL IMPLANTS.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the name of the patent may be complex, the research behind the concept isn\u2019t \u2014 Girard and Boom worked together to invent a new way of coating bioactive glass onto metal medical implants, such as those used in people who have had an amputation. They found the coatings to be bioactive, meaning they regenerate and grow bone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOsseointegrated implants are a game changer in prosthetic technology,\u201d Girard said. \u201cRather than a socket prosthesis, which is essentially strapped onto a patient\u2019s site of amputation, osseointegrated components are implanted into the patient\u2019s skeleton and extend through their skin. The implant becomes a part of the patient\u2019s skeleton. These components more naturally distribute weight and have improved function. Patients even report they have improved senses of force and vibration since the implant essentially becomes an extension of their body.<\/p>\n

\u201cBioactive glasses are extremely effective at regenerating bone in the human body, and would be ideal to permanently anchor the implant to bone tissue. But, they haven\u2019t been successfully demonstrated as coatings for osseointegrated implants \u2014 until now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo\u2019s work was funded by the\u00a0Universities of Wisconsin<\/a>\u00a0through a $50,000\u00a0WiSys Ignite grant<\/a>. Boom earned second place and $500 for presenting the topic in the Innovation Showcase at the\u00a02024 WiSys SPARK Symposium<\/a>, which was held at UW-Superior July 24-26.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A
Chemistry student Foster Boom prepares titanium samples in Associate Professor of Chemistry Steven Girard\u2019s lab on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

High-impact research produces results<\/h3>\n

The idea for the research originated in 2019, when Girard worked with Amber Stewart, who earned a B.S. in chemistry in 2019, on undergraduate research studying the inorganic synthesis of artificial bioactive glass. Stewart figured out how to make glass bioactive.<\/p>\n

One year later, Girard saw a photo of an amputation from a Reddit user. He noticed new technology \u2014 osseointegration, which involves the surgical placement of a metal implant into the patient\u2019s skeleton. Different prostheses can then be attached to the implant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of work is a perfect blend of inorganic chemistry that I currently work on \u2014 understanding how ceramics, metals and glasses form and how we can control their chemistries, and then how they would blend with biomaterials, biotechnology and physiology at a larger scale,\u201d Girard said.<\/p>\n

The interface between a piece of metal \u2014 a foreign object \u2014 and bone tissue is a challenge, because the human body will naturally try to attack, reject or occlude foreign objects within the human body, Girard explained.<\/p>\n

This became the basis for the research \u2014 coating the metal implant with something bioactive, or something that can regrow bone tissue at the site of the implant. Girard thought of the bioactive glass Stewart had worked with the previous year as well as a project he himself had worked on in his postdoctoral research at UW-Madison \u2014 one that focused on generating nanoparticles of metal silicides.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are useful as coatings because the outside naturally forms a thin layer of native oxide,\u201d Girard said. \u201cI thought, \u2018if I make a silicide, is there a way that I could coat this onto metal instead of making these nanoparticles? Then, if they already have this layer of oxide on them that is glass, is it possible that I could take the bioactive glass and just grow it onto this silicide?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"People
An enlarged pattern on a titanium sample shows the presence of bone material adhering to the sample in the lab of Associate Professor of Chemistry Steven Girard on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 (UW-Whitewater photo\/Craig Schreiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Girard and his team tested the materials coated with bioactive glass by putting them into simulated body fluid. The tests confirmed the successful process of growing silicide on metal, then growing bioactive glass on the silicide, and finally growing bone from the bioactive glass in vitro.<\/p>\n

Emerging as a leader on the project, Boom was present when Girard and his team conclusively verified that they grew bone from the bioactive glass.<\/p>\n

\u201cFoster was really vital and irreplaceable for this research project, so to be able to share that moment of triumph with him was really special,\u201d Girard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got all those pieces to fall together nicely, which, in research, doesn\u2019t happen all the time. That served as the basis of the patent.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Patent pending<\/h3>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

Girard provided periodic updates to WiSys throughout the research process, and WiSys assisted Girard with putting the provisional patent together.<\/p>\n

The patent, which was protected upon submission, now enters a process called prosecution, one that takes a couple of years to transition from patent pending to being successfully filed.<\/p>\n

Girard is grateful for the work of Boom and a handful of other students who laid the groundwork to file the patent.<\/p>\n

\u201cFoster\u2019s work involved taking the titanium metal and putting that first coating onto it,\u201d Girard said. \u201cThe success of what he was working on was vital, because if he wasn\u2019t able to accomplish that, then none of the other dominoes would fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured right: Associate Professor of Chemistry Steven Girard in his lab on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hands-on learning drives aspirations<\/h3>\n

Boom has been a part of two major projects as part of his undergraduate research through the\u00a0Undergraduate Research Program<\/a>\u00a0(URP). He worked with Girard from 2022-24 on nanostructured zinc oxide gas sensors, which increase safety of space travel while reducing costs \u2014 work that was supported by a\u00a0NASA grant<\/a>. He has also worked for the chemistry department as a preparatory lab technician for the last two years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, center, listens to students, from left, Nicholas Barmore, Foster Boom, right, and Spencer Cooper, bottom, explain their undergraduate research on nanostructured zinc oxide gas sensors in space travel. UW-Whitewater students from the Whitewater and Janesville campuses presented their undergraduate research projects at the Universities of Wisconsin Research in the Rotunda at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done 11 presentations on this project, so it\u2019s helped with my communication skills \u2014 especially talking to people without a science background \u2014 and my laboratory skills,\u201d Boom said. \u201cWorking on this project has helped me decide what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Girard said the process of discovery \u2014 which includes many challenges \u2014 is what undergraduate research is all about.<\/p>\n

\u201cUndergraduate research is where we\u2019re trying to address questions and solve problems that have not, at this point, been answered,\u201d he said. \u201cFoster is one of these students that has this sense of curiosity and wonder in what he\u2019s doing, and it fuels him to be able to keep doing that research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boom, a recipient of the 2024-25\u00a0Dahle Family Scholarship<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0College of Letters and Sciences<\/a>, plans to attend graduate school for materials engineering, a branch between inorganic chemistry and material science, after graduating this May. He hopes to work in research and development in material science and material engineering for a space flight organization like NASA, Blue Origin, or SpaceX.<\/p>\n

The hands-on learning environment in Girard\u2019s lab at Upham Hall \u2014 home of the chemistry department \u2014 has prepared Boom for his next chapter. He specifically mentioned using tools like the scanning electron microscope during his latest research.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a bunch of methods and instruments you\u2019d never use in a classroom,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m working with air-sensitive materials in a glove box \u2026 if you ask a lot of chem majors who haven\u2019t done research, they don\u2019t know what it is. This broadens the view of what you can do while helping me narrow down what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A
Chemistry major Foster Boom prepares titanium samples in a glove box in the lab of Associate Professor of Chemistry Steven Girard on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Written by Chris Lindeke | Photos by Craig Schreiner<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uww.edu\/news\/archive\/2024-12-chemistry-us-patent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foster Boom traces his first memories of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater back to a field trip taken as an eighth-grade student at Mahone Middle School in Kenosha. \u201cI think we extracted strawberry or corn DNA,\u201d Boom said. \u201cUW-Whitewater was always in the back of my mind.\u201d After graduating from Libertyville High School in Illinois, Boom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[84],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-11973","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-whitewater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/11973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=11973"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=11973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}