Hi all,
I thought I would mention an article I read recently on a news website. Here is a link
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/art...4879035,00.html
The article mentions some work that is being done by a bright student at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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The lab studies involve "calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite" deposited in a gel-like material that's extruded from bacteria known as gluconacetobacter hansenii.
....
"The properties give all the evidence that it should be good as a bone graft. The next step is to actually prove it does regenerate bone," Hutchens said. The stage is set for animal studies to demonstrate that capability, she said.
...
Initial research results were published in the May issue of Biomaterials, a scientific journal.
...
During some early tests, when the cellulose material was put into calcium and phosphate solutions, it formed a "very homogenous, very white" deposit, she said. "And we thought, 'Something is going on.' "
After those experiments, Hutchens said she figured there might be applications to bone. "It is the same mineral found in bone," she said of the calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite.
...
"We need to determine how effective this material is and how well it will repair an injury," he said.
According to the scientific paper produced by the ORNL team, the purified bacterial cellulose is "biocompatible" - as evidenced by a skin substitute that's already on the market using the same stuff.
The calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite is "ideal material for bone grafts because it promotes bone colonization when implanted in osseous defects and degrades over time to be replaced by new bone," the researchers said in the Biomaterials article. Because implants using this composite material are expected to "rapidly incorporate" into the bone, the need for a second surgery might be eliminated, they said.
Hutchens said the bacteria that produce the gel are kept in a yellowish "nutritional solution," which they use for food.
"The bacteria are very small and as they swim through the media, they spin very small fibers of polymer, which is called cellulose," she said. "Almost like spiders, they spin these fibers into a crisscross mesh, and as it gets thicker and thicker, it forms the layer of gel at the top."
When the gel grows to the thickness desired, lab researchers "harvest" the gel by lifting it from the nutritional solution, Hutchens said. The gel is then heated to kill the bacteria and then cleaned to remove the nutritional solution, she said.
"After it is clean, we perform the modification where we deposit the bone mineral into the cellulose gel," she said.
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I find this very interesting. If it is successful I think it may revolutionize complex joint repairs.
Sebastian [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]
I thought I would mention an article I read recently on a news website. Here is a link
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/art...4879035,00.html
The article mentions some work that is being done by a bright student at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE<!--quotec-->
The lab studies involve "calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite" deposited in a gel-like material that's extruded from bacteria known as gluconacetobacter hansenii.
....
"The properties give all the evidence that it should be good as a bone graft. The next step is to actually prove it does regenerate bone," Hutchens said. The stage is set for animal studies to demonstrate that capability, she said.
...
Initial research results were published in the May issue of Biomaterials, a scientific journal.
...
During some early tests, when the cellulose material was put into calcium and phosphate solutions, it formed a "very homogenous, very white" deposit, she said. "And we thought, 'Something is going on.' "
After those experiments, Hutchens said she figured there might be applications to bone. "It is the same mineral found in bone," she said of the calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite.
...
"We need to determine how effective this material is and how well it will repair an injury," he said.
According to the scientific paper produced by the ORNL team, the purified bacterial cellulose is "biocompatible" - as evidenced by a skin substitute that's already on the market using the same stuff.
The calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite is "ideal material for bone grafts because it promotes bone colonization when implanted in osseous defects and degrades over time to be replaced by new bone," the researchers said in the Biomaterials article. Because implants using this composite material are expected to "rapidly incorporate" into the bone, the need for a second surgery might be eliminated, they said.
Hutchens said the bacteria that produce the gel are kept in a yellowish "nutritional solution," which they use for food.
"The bacteria are very small and as they swim through the media, they spin very small fibers of polymer, which is called cellulose," she said. "Almost like spiders, they spin these fibers into a crisscross mesh, and as it gets thicker and thicker, it forms the layer of gel at the top."
When the gel grows to the thickness desired, lab researchers "harvest" the gel by lifting it from the nutritional solution, Hutchens said. The gel is then heated to kill the bacteria and then cleaned to remove the nutritional solution, she said.
"After it is clean, we perform the modification where we deposit the bone mineral into the cellulose gel," she said.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I find this very interesting. If it is successful I think it may revolutionize complex joint repairs.
Sebastian [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]