Bioreplaceable Suture Anchors aid Shoulder Stabilization

New suture anchors made from a biocomposite material have been proven in pre-clinical use to resorb and be replaced with bone within 24 months.

The Lupine BR and the Bioknotless BR bioreplaceable suture anchors, made from a proprietary material called biocryl rapide (BR), offer both traditional and knotless suture anchor options for surgical attachment of soft tissue to bone during arthroscopic shoulder instability repair, while maintaining design characteristics found in previous implants made of polylactic acid (PLA).

BR is a biocomposite material combining tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and polylactic/polyglycolic acid (PLGA). A proprietary manufacturing process known as micro-particle dispersion (MPD) technology is used to make the BR material a homogeneous blend of PLGA and TCP particles. Dispersion of the composite particles is critical to the material strength properties. The material has shown marked absorption and a proliferation of bone cells after 18 months, with near total absorption in about 24 months. BR was developed by DePuy Mitek (Raynham, MA, USA), a Johnson and Johnson (New Brunswick, NJ, USA) company.

"Using Biocryl Rapide material in suture anchors is a natural progression in arthroscopic implant design,” said Mark H. Getelman, M.D., co-director of the sports medicine fellowship at Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI; Van Nuys, CA, USA). "Since it combines an improved absorption profile with osteoconductive properties while maintaining all the strength characteristics seen with the widely used PLA implants, it may prove to be very beneficial clinically.”


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DePuy Mitek
Johnson and Johnson