greymule Loc: Colorado

Scientists in France have come up with an injectable macroporous calcium phosphate cement for bone repair—you know, as you do. What does this mean?

Now Pierre Weiss and colleagues at the University of Nantes have created a macroporous self-setting CPC in the form of an injectable foam by using a silanised-hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (Si-HPMC) hydrogel as a foaming agent. ‘Our approach is simple and gives us really good results in terms of mechanical properties and macroporous structures,’ says Weiss.

[...]

With 70% of bone consisting of a calcium phosphate mineral called hydroxyapatite, calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) are widely used in surgery as bone substitutes. CPCs have excellent properties for the job – they are injectable, biocompatible, self-setting and microporous allowing nutrients to flow throughout the implant site, which assists bone regeneration.
Injectable CPCs before this have not been able to employ macroporosity—which means faster bone regeneration. An earlier process the research team used resulted in bubbles infiltrating the gel they were using. While this was unwanted in this earlier attempt, it turned into a plus as scientists decided to use the concept of a more porous delivery system—foam.

The team made the foam by putting Si-HPMC and CPC solutions in separate syringes, and then pumping air into the CPC syringe. Both syringes were then joined by a connector and plunged to rapidly mix the solutions and air, which formed a homogenous foam.

‘We knew that both biomaterials are biocompatible separately but we didn’t know how the body would react with a combination of both,’ explains Weiss. To find an answer, and also to test the biofunctionality of the foam, they conducted preliminary in vivo tests by making tiny defects in the thigh bones of two live rabbits and injected the foam into the cavities.
There were no toxic side-effects recorded and new bone formed. Very cool and hopefully coming to a hospital near you.

Rick-ws Loc: Seattle or North Idaho

Maybe this will help devise a similar method to inject a stratus on which to grow new cartilage and eliminate the need to 'replace knees with an appliance'.

greymule Loc: Colorado

That would be great. Had mine replaced after 6 surgeries over the years.

Flyerace Loc: Mt Pleasant, WI

Let's hope these new discoveries will replace the "replacement" surgeries. My new knee is good, but what you go through is a tough program to finish.

firtree Loc: Florida, USA

In the first place, poor little bunnies. Secondly, side effects and long term effects have not been studied (obviously) so I wouldn't be touting this as any type of miracle cure just yet. I agree they should be trying to figure out something for joints and cartilage. With the aging populations, that is the hot ticket item.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It will be nice if this works well and is put into general use.

johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio

Couldn't come soon enough. Had my hip replaced in October. Slow recovery for me, I was still using a cane after 6 weeks, but I was making progress...until I fell. I twisted the prosthesis that goes into the femur, and the femur cracked, fragmenting on the top and causing a crack down the femur for about 8 inches. Nice eh? Well, they banded the femur up, put the pieces back together, and put in a new hip prosthesis. I am on week 8 now, and I am still in a wheelchair, though I can put some weight on the leg. I expect another 4 weeks until I can put full weight on the leg, and then another 6 months until the residual pain goes away. Artificial bone glue would have prevented the twisting of the prosthesis in the femur, and maybe would have prevented the serious fracture, or maybe the femur would just have broken somewhere else.