Publication Date: 2005-05-10
- Remembering the National Model Worker and Shanxi Defense Science and Technology Industry Pride Li Baoxing
Shang Huihui, Xiao Jianyong
Clean white walls, spotless workstations, and tightly sealed safety doors. Wearing masks and shoe covers, walking slowly outside the workshop, looking at everything around, couldn't help but sigh at the precision and rigor of the production of medical products. In late spring and early summer, at the Institute of Biomedical Materials and Pharmaceutical Technology of the China Institute of Radiation Protection, the reporter met Li Baoxing, a researcher wearing a white coat and a smile. It is this unremarkable pride of the Shanxi Defense Science and Technology Industry who has presided over the independent research and development of "homogeneous bone implant materials" and obtained 9 national patents, providing bone replacement materials for hundreds of thousands of orthopedic patients nationwide, eliminating pain.
The China Institute of Radiation Protection is called the "Organ Bank" by many people because it is also the medical tissue bank of Shanxi Province.
Enthusiasm for science and technology to serve the country
In 1978, Li Baoxing graduated from the School of Radiology and Public Health at Suzhou University and was assigned to work in the Radiology Research Laboratory of the China Institute of Radiation Protection, engaging in research on radioactive isotopes. In July 1985, he joined the Communist Party of China. In July 1998, the institute's leadership appointed Li Baoxing as the deputy director of the Institute of Life Sciences and concurrently as the director of the provincial medical tissue bank. At that time, the tissue bank was in a difficult situation.
The tissue bank is a unit that preserves human tissue materials. It is not only a guarantee for the treatment of wounded soldiers in war, but also a high-tech product reserve in peacetime. It has important defense value and enormous economic value. In the 1950s, the United States had already used tissue banks for tissue transplantation in war casualties. In this technology, China has always lagged behind other countries and has never had a true tissue bank.
In 1985, the tissue bank undertook the research and development of "homogeneous bone implant materials" and "skin dressings." In simple terms, "homogeneous bone implant materials" are materials that can replace human bones in the event of comminuted fractures, and "skin dressings" are similar products. Due to tight funding and failed experiments, the research on "homogeneous bone implant materials" was almost at a standstill when Li Baoxing took office, and the tissue bank relied on taking on small projects from outside to make a living.
Why can other countries do it, but not us? Li Baoxing, who is dedicated to serving the country with science and technology, overcame countless difficulties and devoted himself to research. The first problem to solve was the talent problem. Li Baoxing sincerely invited the founder of the tissue bank, retired professors, and experts such as Sun Shiquan, to return and lead young people in scientific research. Secondly, the funding problem had to be solved. Li Baoxing made various plans and applied multiple times, and finally received a response. Thirdly, the problem of scattered morale had to be solved. "This product is still a blank in our country. Our work is to overcome this technical problem and achieve scientific and industrial contributions. This is our responsibility." Li Baoxing infected everyone with his enthusiasm for serving the country, and all the staff united as one. Based on previous scientific research, they embarked on a difficult second venture.
Fearless of difficulties, dedicated to science
At that time, the biggest challenge the tissue bank faced was the failure of clinical trials of "homogeneous bone implant materials" due to rejection by the human body.
Resisting foreign substances is an inherent defense mechanism of the human body. Solving the problem of rejection is a recognized challenge in the field of biomedical science. Whether the second venture can succeed depends on solving the problem of rejection.
Li Baoxing and his colleagues conducted repeated experiments to find the cause of adverse symptoms in clinical trials. The results showed that the main reason was the high retention of proteins and other substances in the raw materials. Once the problem was identified, targeted measures could be taken. How to minimize the retention of these substances? Cleaning is the core technology. How to clean and how many times to clean to ensure cleanliness without damaging the bone structure of the original material? Li Baoxing and his colleagues conducted repeated experiments and cleanings, and finally mastered a set of techniques for cleaning with different durations and water flows.
Because the product needs to be implanted in the human body, thorough disinfection must be carried out, and no bacteria can be left behind. At that time, the commonly used disinfection method in China was chemical fumigation, but this method easily left chemical molecules on the disinfected objects. What would be the consequences of implanting products with residual chemical molecules into the human body? This method must not be used. They used the strong radiation research capabilities of the China Institute of Radiation Protection and used irradiation to disinfect the products. The radiation can completely kill all invisible residual cells, and it will not damage the original materials or cause foreign object adhesion.
The problem was solved, and after clinical observation, the rejection reaction reached the same level of safety as the implantation of the human body's own bones. The problem was finally overcome. In order to ensure that China does not lag behind other countries in this technology, Li Baoxing and his colleagues have put in several times the effort and sweat of ordinary people!
During the clinical trial phase, Li Baoxing put aside the identity of an intellectual and carried dry food to promote the product in various provinces and cities across the country. After clinical application in many large hospitals, the feedback was consistently positive.
In 1999, Li Baoxing and Sun Shiquan applied for trial production registration and production permits for the product. At the expert demonstration meeting, the product passed the trial production as "safe and effective." One year later, "homogeneous bone implant materials" obtained the trial production certificate, making it the only project in China at that time that was approved for clinical application of human homologous tissue transplantation materials. Years of hard work paid off, and Li Baoxing shed tears. As a Communist Party member on the front line of defense science and technology industry, it is an unshirkable responsibility to dedicate youth and even life to the defense cause. As a researcher, being able to transform decades of research projects into productivity and serve a large number of patients is the most gratifying thing.
The acquisition of the trial production certificate greatly inspired all the staff of the unit. In just 9 months, they successfully obtained the production license, half the time usually required. To commend the achievements, the China Institute of Radiation Protection rewarded the collective of the tissue bank with 1,000 yuan and Li Baoxing with 2,000 yuan. Li Baoxing handed his bonus to the accountant and said, "Let's buy a new pair of shoes for everyone. Let's walk together in new shoes towards a new journey."
Protecting intellectual property and promoting innovation
Once scientific and technological achievements are transformed into productivity, immeasurable social and economic benefits will be generated. In order to protect intellectual property rights and safeguard national interests, Li Baoxing has detailed management systems for research, discipline, rewards and punishments, and archives, and actively applies for patent registration for products. The achievements of "homogeneous bone implant materials," "homogeneous vertebral fixation devices," "homogeneous bone screws and their supporting taps and drills," etc., have successively obtained 6 national utility model patents, 2 invention patents, and 1 equipment patent. In 2003, "radiation-sterilized homogeneous bone implant materials" was evaluated by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a "national key new product project." It was the first in China and advanced internationally. The cleaning technology reached the international leading level.
The mission of science and technology is innovation. As a leader in the field, Li Baoxing has always closely followed the direction of academic development and the dynamics of cutting-edge technology, and actively exchanged with domestic and international academic circles. Due to always occupying the commanding heights of corresponding technology and academia, Li Baoxing has maintained the leading position in the Asia-Pacific region in the discipline of biological transplantation materials. He has been entrusted with the development, production standards, and specifications of multiple national and industry-related projects and products, and has undertaken multiple defense scientific research and ministerial key scientific research projects. The "Radiation Injury and Development of Biomedical Transplant Materials Needed on the Battlefield" project completed under his leadership in the pre-research project of the 10th Five-Year Plan was highly praised by the Defense Science and Technology Commission and the General Equipment Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
In order to ensure that there are successors in scientific research, the tissue bank has continuously selected outstanding employees to participate in international training for several years, cultivating 2 doctoral students and 7 master's students, and rewarding the initiator of the project, Sun Shiquan, with 100,000 yuan.
While strictly controlling the quality and increasing investment in scientific research funds, the tissue bank has achieved industrial-scale operation. Its economic and technical strength is becoming stronger, and it has become the first in the same industry in China to pass the ISO 9000 international quality system certification. It has formed a product system with three categories and four series of hundreds of varieties. To meet market needs, the tissue bank has established Shanxi Aorui Biomaterials Co., Ltd., with Li Baoxing as the general manager. Under his planning and operation, the company's technology and processes are leading the world in the same industry, and its market share reaches 80%. It has benefited hundreds of thousands of patients in 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, becoming the largest production base of homogeneous bone materials in the Asia-Pacific region. The provincial medical tissue bank has also become the largest medical tissue bank in the Asia-Pacific region.
In April of this year, Li Baoxing, a Communist Party member, a researcher at the China Institute of Radiation Protection, an expert in radiology, medicine, and biological tissue transplantation materials, a lifelong member of the Asia-Pacific Organ Bank Association, and a 50-year-old outstanding representative of Shanxi Defense Science and Technology Industry, was honored as a national model worker. (Photography by Wang Zhihong)
Source: https://www.caea.gov.cn/n6760338/n6760342/c6831863/content.html