Recent research has shown that 3D printed ceramic implants can help grow real bones. On August 7, 2018, Antarctic Bear learned from foreign media that researchers from New York University developed 3D printed ceramic implants. After implanting them in experimental animals, they successfully made experimental animals in the next 24 weeks of observation. Bone regeneration.
As described in the journal Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, the implant is used as a bioactive scaffold. Surgeons and scientists at NYU School of Medicine and NYU School of Dentistry said that as new bones gradually replaced these devices, their implanted stents were naturally absorbed by the body of the test animal. The team hopes the technology will be useful for patients with non-healing bone defects.
"Our 3D scaffold represents the best implant in development because it has the ability to regenerate real bone," said research senior researcher and biomedical engineer Paulo Coelho, PhD DDS, in a statement. "Our latest findings bring us closer to clinical trials and potential bone implants for children with cranial deformities after birth, and veterans seeking to repair damaged limbs."
The research team claims that 3D printed ceramic implants are very similar in shape and composition to real bone compared to other flexible experimental bone implants.
The new ceramic device is made of beta tricalcium phosphate, a compound made of the same chemicals found in natural bone, making the implant resorbable. One of the keys to the rapid growth of natural bones is dipyridamole coating, a blood thinner that has been shown in other experiments to increase bone formation by more than 50%. Dipyridamole also attracts bone stem cells and stimulates the formation of nourishing blood vessels and bone marrow in new bone. According to researchers, these soft tissues give scaffold-grown bones the same flexibility as natural bones.
"Dipyridamole has proven to be key to the success of implants," said Bruce N Cronstein, a professor and co-investigator at New York University School of Medicine. "And because the implant is gradually absorbed, the drug is released bit by bit and localized into the bones, rather than the whole body, minimizing the risk of abnormal bone growth, bleeding or other side effects."
To date, researchers have tested implants in bone defects in mouse skulls and rabbit limbs. They found that about 6 months after implantation, about 77% of each stent was absorbed by the animal. They also observed that the new bone grew into a lattice-like structural support of the scaffold and then dissolved. Some CT scans of the implantation site showed few traces of beta tricalcium phosphate. Subsequent weight-bearing tests also showed that the new bone was as strong as the original undamaged bone.
Next, the team plans to test the stent on larger animals. However, clinical trials can take years.
Therefore, it takes a long time to fully research and prove that it is used on the human body.