Scaffold for Bone Growth that Can Treat Bone Loss

A biodegradable scaffold that eventually dissolves can grow new tissue and offer a potential treatment for bone loss in cases such as trauma or spinal fusions. The research was reported in the June 15, 2003, issue of the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.

Although bone can replace itself, in some traumatic cases there is too much damage for the bone to heal on its own. Bone grafting is a common solution but often the patient does not have enough bone to move from one place to another. So researchers seeking a solution experimented with polymers and natural bone tissue to find a new method of bone regeneration. They eventually developed a scaffold with polymers similar to those found in dissolving structures and with a structure similar to a large-pored dishwashing sponge.

After seeding the scaffold with bone marrow cells, the scaffold was implanted in the damaged femur bones of rabbits. Within six weeks, the animals could walk on the legs containing the scaffold. Within eight weeks, the bone marrow cells had developed into bone throughout the scaffold, which gradually dissolved. The technique does not require the use of bone growth factors. The researchers plan now to study the scaffolds in larger animals, with the goal of creating a human treatment that would speed the early healing of trauma.

"It's not only better for the patient, but it gets the patient out of the bed and out of the hospital soon, so there's less cost to the healthcare system,” said co-investigator John Davies, professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry at the Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto (IBBME, Canada).




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