Release Date: 2005-05-10
- Remembering the National Model Worker and the Pride of Shanxi Defense Science and Technology Industry, Li Baoxing
Shang Huihui, Xiao Jianyong
Clean white walls, spotless workstations, and tightly sealed safety doors. Wearing masks and shoe covers, walking slowly in and out of the workspace, looking at everything around, can't help but marvel 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 the "homogeneous bone implant material" product, which has obtained 9 national patents and provided bone substitute materials for hundreds of thousands of orthopedic patients nationwide, eliminating pain.
The China Institute of Radiation Protection is called the "Organ Repository" by many people because it is also the medical tissue repository 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 Department of the China Institute of Radiation Protection, engaging in research on radioactive isotopes. In July 1985, Li Baoxing joined the Communist Party of China. In July 1998, the leaders of the institute appointed Li Baoxing as the deputy director of the Institute of Life Sciences and the director of the provincial medical tissue repository. At that time, the tissue repository was in a difficult situation.
The tissue repository is a unit that stores human tissue materials, which is not only a guarantee for the treatment of wounded soldiers in war, but also a high-tech product reserve in peacetime, with important defense value and huge economic value. In the 1950s, the United States had used tissue repositories for tissue transplantation of war wounded, but in this technology, China has always lagged behind other countries and has no real tissue repository.
In 1985, the tissue repository undertook the research and development of "homogeneous bone implant materials" and "skin dressings". In layman's terms, "homogeneous bone implant materials" are materials that can be used as bone substitutes when there are 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 repository relied on taking on small projects from outside to make a living.
Why can other countries do it while we can't? Li Baoxing, who is dedicated to serving the country with science and technology, overcame all difficulties and devoted himself to research. The first problem to solve is the talent problem. Li Baoxing sincerely invited the founder of the tissue repository, retired professors and experts such as Sun Shiquan, to return and lead young people in scientific research. Secondly, the funding problem needs to be solved. Li Baoxing made various plans and applied multiple times, and finally got a response. Thirdly, the problem of scattered morale needs 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 development. This is our responsibility." Li Baoxing infected everyone with his enthusiasm for serving the country, and all the staff came together. On the basis of preliminary scientific research, they started a difficult second venture.
Fearless of difficulties, dedicated to science
At that time, the biggest problem the tissue repository encountered was the failure of clinical trials of "homogeneous bone implant materials" due to rejection by the human body.
Resisting foreign substances is the inherent defense mechanism of the human body, and solving the problem of rejection is a recognized challenge in the field of biomedical research. Whether the second venture can succeed or not, solving the problem of rejection is the key.
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 is identified, targeted measures can 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 repeated cleaning, and finally mastered a set of cleaning techniques with different durations and water flows.
Because the product needs to be implanted into the human body, it must be thoroughly disinfected 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 point of radiation medicine in the China Institute of Radiation Protection and used radiation to disinfect the products. The radiation can completely kill all invisible residual cells, and it will not cause damage to the raw materials, nor will it cause foreign matter adhesion.
The problem was solved, and after the product was clinically observed, the degree of rejection 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, the "homogeneous bone implant material" obtained the trial production certificate. At that time, it was the only project in China that was approved for clinical application of human homologous tissue transplantation materials. Years of hard work have been recognized, 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 national defense cause. As a researcher, being able to transform decades of scientific research projects into productivity and serve a large number of patients is the most gratifying thing.
The acquisition of the trial production certificate has greatly inspired all the staff of the unit. In just 9 months, they successfully obtained the production permit, which is half the time usually required. In recognition of their achievements, the Organ Repository awarded the collective 1,000 yuan and Li Baoxing 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 Constant 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 scientific 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 matching taps and drills" have successively obtained 6 national utility model patents, 2 invention patents, and 1 equipment patent. In 2003, "irradiated homogeneous bone implant material" was rated as a "national key new product project" by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and it was the first in China and internationally advanced. The cleaning technology has reached the international leading level.
The mission of science and technology is innovation. As the leader of the discipline, 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, and has been entrusted with the formulation of standards and specifications for the research and development, production, and production of a number of national and industry-related projects and products. Undertook a number of defense scientific research and ministerial key scientific research projects, and the "Radiation Injury and Development of Biological Transplant Materials Needed on the Battlefield" completed by him as a 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 repository has continuously selected outstanding employees to participate in international training for several years, and has trained 2 doctoral students and 7 master's students, and rewarded 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 repository has achieved industrial-scale operation, and its economic and technical strength has become increasingly strong. It is the first in the same industry in China to pass the ISO9000 international quality system certification, and has formed a product system of three categories and four series with hundreds of varieties. To meet market needs, the tissue repository has established Shanxi Aorui Biomaterials Co., Ltd., with Li Baoxing as the general manager. Under his planning and operation, the company's technology and craftsmanship are leading the world in the same industry, and the market share of its products reaches 80%. It has benefited hundreds of thousands of patients in 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, and has become the largest production base of homogeneous bone materials in the Asia-Pacific region. The provincial medical tissue repository has also become the largest medical tissue repository 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 radiation medicine and biological tissue transplantation materials, a lifelong member of the Asia-Pacific Organ Repository Surgical Association, and a 50-year-old outstanding representative of the 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