"The inside feels good, and the feet are not itchy. In addition, this thing can be used after it is disassembled." Recently, 57-year-old Ms. Tang from Qujing City, Yunnan Province suffered a comminuted fracture of her left calf ankle. Instead of using traditional plaster, an orthopedic external fixation brace (also called "exoskeleton") made of liquid metal was used to fix her. Ms. Tang knew about liquid metal for the first time, and was also one of the first patients to "contact" liquid metal intimately, and was overwhelmed by its magic.
This is a breakthrough in liquid metal from theory to practice in the medical field.
Now, liquid metal, a new type of functional material full of science fiction, is coming to our daily life from laboratories and industrial bases. The "China Liquid Metal Valley", which is booming in YN, is becoming a "legend" of the integration and development of industry, university, research and enterprise.
"Liquid metal works well!"
What is liquid metal? Isn’t the metal in your eyes solid at room temperature? Is it the liquid metal robot in the science fiction movie?
In the movie, the damaged place of the liquid metal robot will be automatically repaired, and it will recover soon after being burned. The super power of this liquid metal robot is beyond imagination and seems to be far from reality.
"But today, the magical material of liquid metal is coming into reality from imagination and science fiction." said Yang Yingbao, chairman of YNYT Liquid Metal Technology Co., Ltd. In simple terms, liquid metal is liquid at room temperature, which can flow and conduct electricity. metal.
The liquid metal "exoskeleton" project praised by Ms. Tang is just a representative of the application of liquid metal. The project is composed of a team of professors from Tsinghua University, a dual-employed researcher at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and chief scientist of liquid metal. YNYT Liquid Metal It was jointly developed by the team of Professor Zhang Yong from the First People's Hospital of Qujing City. It is an original breakthrough made by liquid metal in biomedical materials. After nearly 2 years, it has developed an external fixation suitable for whole body bones.
When it comes to liquid metal, Liu Jing cannot be circumvented. It is the joint scientific research team formed by the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University. After nearly 20 years of unremitting efforts, they have discovered a series of new characteristics and new applications of liquid metal.
According to reports, liquid metals are a large group of alloy materials, usually referring to low-melting alloys with a melting point below 300 degrees Celsius. They are liquid at room temperature or in working conditions. They have the characteristics of wide liquid temperature range, high thermal conductivity, and good electrical conductivity. Yang Yingbao said that its manufacturing process does not require high-temperature smelting, is environmentally friendly and non-toxic, and can be widely used in industrial manufacturing, aerospace, military defense, biomedicine, education and cultural creativity. "Chinese scientists have made a series of original breakthroughs in liquid metal biomedical materials, and the use of'exoskeleton' is a representative."
"The liquid metal'exoskeleton' is a low-temperature melting material, which can achieve a perfect and personalized fit and shaping with the patient's body. It is easy to operate, and when the dressing needs to be changed, loosen the bandage, and the elastic'exoskeleton' will break apart Take it off, change the medicine and fasten it.” said Zhang Yong, chief physician of Qujing First People`s Hospital, who performed the operation for Ms. Tang. “Exoskeleton” put into clinical practice is a milestone in the application of liquid metal…
Xu Wenzhi, deputy general manager of YNYT Liquid Metal Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that fractures occurred in many parts of the body, such as cervical spine, shoulder joint, lumbar spine, phalanx, metacarpal, forearm, elbow joint, etc., all of which can use "exoskeleton". The traditional fixation is mostly with plaster. In the coming days, there are also some new materials, but the liquid metal "exoskeleton" is particularly useful.
The reporter experienced the liquid metal "exoskeleton". Before heating, the sheet wrapped in flannel is like a hard steel plate. After heating for a few minutes, the steel plate can be kneaded at will, just like a toy clay. Wearing it on the wrist joints, squeezed and compacted it. A few minutes later, it recovered its hardness. The wrist joints were wrapped tightly, like wearing an oversized sports wristband.
"The'exoskeleton' inherits the role of fixation and support well, and overcomes the shortcomings of the plaster, which is bulky, easy to break, airtight, and easy to cause dry and itchy skin." Zhang Yong said, it is light and convenient, low temperature shaping, high fit, It is comfortable and breathable, easy to wear, and has the functions of heat therapy and magnetic therapy to promote recovery. It can also be reused. It does not need to be destructively removed like a plaster during dressing changes or special examinations. It is fixed with plaster multiple times to reduce the cost of patients.
When it comes to liquid metal, Ms. Tang, who has long since recovered and been discharged from the hospital, also praised her repeatedly.
YNYT cooperated with the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with chief scientist Liu Jing as the head of the technical team, and a group of scientific research backbones such as Deng Zhongshan as core members to promote the development of the liquid metal industry.
As an original innovative technology, the product has no testing standards and no evaluation expert group, and it is difficult for liquid metal products to obtain certification and enter the market. YNYT Liquid Metal Technology Co., Ltd. and the scientific research team have successively organized and held two China Liquid Metal Industry Technology Summit Forums. These leading efforts have attracted great attention from relevant departments and related work has been advanced rapidly.
In June 2015, YNYT Liquid Metal Technology Co., Ltd. rolled off the first batch of liquid metal application products.
In 2016, the liquid metal industry was listed in the "Provincial "Thirteenth Five-Year" New Material Technology Development Plan". In the same year, YNYT Liquid Metal Technology Co., Ltd. obtained the first liquid metal certification system and achieved sales revenue in only the second month. 4 million yuan;
In 2017, liquid metal was included in the national "Guiding Catalog for the First Batch of Application Demonstration of Key New Materials", and in 2018 it was included in the national "Classification of Strategic Emerging Industries";
In the past few years, YNYT Liquid Metal Technology Co., Ltd. has invested a total of 340 million yuan to build a production line of liquid metal products with an annual output of 200 tons. It has more than 200 liquid metal formulas and more than 300 patents, with an output value of 580 million yuan and many well-known Enterprises cooperate.