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Abstract

Surgical treatment for injuries to soft connective tissues are estimated at about 800,000 cases each year in the US. For these surgical procedures, interference screws or suture anchors are needed. Currently, materials used for the devices are non-degradable metals or bioresorbable polymers. However, these materials do lead to complications. Metallic materials suffer from difficulties encountered during revision surgery and interference with magnetic resonance imaging; whereas, polymeric materials lead to device fracture during implantation, inconsistent degradation rates, and poor osteointegration.

The overall goal of this dissertation was to explore the use of Mg-based materials as an alternative to the existing materials. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)