Technology that uses an "invisibility cloak" to combat post-surgical bone infections and minimise antibiotic use has been developed at the University of Newcastle.
The technology aims to ease the physical and mental pain, long-term disabilities and financial burdens that come from these infections.
Dr Behnam Akhavan, a biomedical engineer, said the plasma-based technology would be used for surgeries such as knee and hip replacements and dental implants.
Dr Akhavan and his team's research paper on the matter will be released on Monday in the Advanced Materials Interfaces journal.
"Bone infection is a major clinical problem and can be exceptionally high risk for open fractures and surgeries," the paper said.
While corrective surgery and antibiotics can often resolve "an initial superficial infection", deep infections are often resistant to treatment.
Treating the resultant non-unions [bones failing to heal] can be "challenging and costly".
Dr Akhavan, of the university's School of Engineering, said the technology "significantly reduces the risk of infections associated with implants", boosting "overall healthcare outcomes".
Presently, the health sector uses a simple method to soak surgical implants in an antibacterial solution, but this "loses its effectiveness once the implant is inserted into the body".
The emerging plasma-based technology provided a "more targeted and sustainable approach to medical treatments" and helped "minimise the use of antibiotics", Dr Akhavan said.
As well as its health benefits, the technology produces almost no waste.
Hospitals are seeking solutions that improve their environmental performance, as they're known for creating huge amounts of unnecessary waste.
"The tech is also scalable and can be easily automated, making it a versatile solution," Dr Akhavan said.
Asked how he devised the technology, he said "it all started with a simple question: how can we make sure that implants have a surface that lowers the risk of infections?"
The technology, unique to his plasma bio-engineering lab, involved the creation of a coating that "effectively shields the bone implants and makes them antibacterial".
"The plasma coating almost serves as an invisibility cloak to protect the implant from infection and rejection," he said.
"The challenge was that creating these coatings on three-dimensional implant surfaces is not trivial and much more challenging compared to flat surfaces."
He added that plasma was often referred to as the "fourth state of matter", alongside solid, liquid and gas.
"It can be described as an ionised gas, like a soup of charged particles," he said.
The technology was presently at the "animal test stage".
"We hope it can reach clinical trials following the completion of this stage," he said.
