At Johns Hopkins University researchers have created a recipe for making material that can be used to 3D print new bones. Unlike most previous attempts at making the stuff completely from man-made products, the new material consists of 30% pulverized decellularized natural bone mixed with polycaprolactone, a biodegradable polyester. The natural component is important because cells have trouble making a home inside pure plastic. The bone fragments attract cells to establish themselves and to form natural tissue within and around the implant.
The material can be used to create just about any shape rather than be limited to whatever surgeons can come up with using explanted bone from the same patient. The bone tissue doesn’t have to be harvested from the patient, instead obtained from bovine bones that are subject to decellularization to prevent rejection.
The researchers tested the material on mice who had holes drilled into their skulls and filled with printed replacements. The investogators added stem cells to help initiate the healing process and showed that the material was considerably more welcoming of new tissue growth when compared to purely artificial replacements.
Study in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering: Three-Dimensional Printing of Bone Extracellular Matrix for Craniofacial Regeneration…
Via: Johns Hopkins…
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