Injectable Artificial Bone Developed 105
An anonymous reader writes in with the news that British scientists have invented artificial "injectable bone" that flows like toothpaste and hardens in the body. This new regenerative medicine technology provides a scaffold for the formation of blood vessels and bone tissue, then biodegrades. The injectable bone can also deliver stem cells directly to the site of bone repair, the researchers say. "Not only does the technique reduce the need for dangerous surgery, it also avoids damaging neighboring areas, said [the inventor]. The technology's superiority over existing alternatives is the novel hardening process and strength of the bond... Older products heat up as they harden, killing surrounding cells, whereas 'injectable bone' hardens at body temperature — without generating heat — making a very porous, biodegradable structure."
Who needs this? (Score:5, Interesting)
Harry Potter reference (Score:1, Interesting)
Skele-gro from Harry Potter anyone?
Great, an alternative to tattoos! (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyone ever see the story about the guy who implanted horns on himself? http://www.ambient.ca/bodmod/implants.html [ambient.ca]
This seems like a much better alternative than silicone or teflon or whatever they're using these days. I could go for
Bone cement works poorly (Score:5, Interesting)
Bone cement (poly-methy-methacrylate (PMMA)) was originally invented to hold joint replacements in place. It is not a good long term solution, because it stress shields the bone, and then the bone basically dissolves away.
Bone cement can not "glue" two pieces of bone together, as it is only strong on compression, and will break in a few days if used for that.
The only long term solution for bones is a biological one, where new bone is grown. So far ALL of the attempts to "Grow" bone have failed. Yes there are many products out there that supposedly grow bone, but I've used most of them, and none work well at all - most just sit there like a lump of plaster.
Forming new bone is a "Holy Grail" of sorts in orthopaedic surgery, since many trauma patients, and "re-do" patients are missing bone, and we have no good way to reform the bone. This can lead to mega-prosthesis, or even amputations. There are a few ways to "stretch" out bone, but this often takes months with the patient walking around with circular metal pin frames protruding out thru their skin.
Dental Applications? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Dental Applications? (Score:5, Interesting)
About 5 years ago, I had an apicoectomy to treat a chronically abscessed tooth. The abscess had been around long enough to eat away some of the bone surrounding the root. The oral surgeon replaced the missing bone with a special mixture of cadaver bone in a protein matrix. Since it was open surgery and the root end of the tooth was exposed, he just packed it in there the same way a bricklayer would pack mortar into a joint. It seems reasonable that it could also be injected if one had a wide enough needle so that the bone bits wouldn't get stuck.
Electric/ultrasonic field stimulation (Score:3, Interesting)
only barely work, and are mostly used in desperation, and last resort.
Yes you can lengthen a leg - Ilizarov method (Score:3, Interesting)
Invented by Ilizarov - a Siberian doctor who made the original circular wire frame from bicycle wheels. Nowadays they are much better. It involves cutting the bone and applying a multi-ring pin into bone stabilizer system, and then stretching the bone 1mm/day. Yes 1 millimeter per day! Takes usually a month to lengthen a leg one inch.
Injectable bone will not work, as the muscles, nerves, arteries and veins all need to be lengthened too.
This is a fairly common procedure in the USA, and is routinely done at any major medical center where there is an orthopaedics residency training program.