Cell-loaded bandage “considerably” boosts bone healing
Scientists at King’s College London (KCL), UK, have developed a flexible “bone bandage” that is coated in a protein that naturally prompts growth and repair of damaged bones in the body. The bandage boosts the healing time considerably when surgically implanted onto the break site in a bone, and harmlessly dissolves into the body, once the bone has healed.
The KCL scientists have added that the biocompatible, biodegradable material can be loaded up with a three-dimensional collagen gel containing bone cells that were grown (in the lab) from the patient’s stem cells to increase its effectiveness. (The bandage will need to be directly inserted into the fracture for the gel to support the cells as they grow and fill in the break.)
The bone bandage has already been successfully tested on mice, with human clinical trials now being planned. As the bandage does not depend on the body’s ability to heal – which is often compromised after experiencing a serious injury – it is thought to be better than most scaffolding-like implants that the patient’s bone cells gradually grow into.
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
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