New bone cement on horizon for THR and avn/ON cure ???

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'Injectable bone' helps fractures

A material that can be squirted into broken bones, where it hardens

within minutes, has been developed by UK scientists.

The toothpaste-like substance forms a biodegradeable scaffold over

which the body's own bone grows.

Its makers, from Nottingham University, said it could help remove the

need for painful bone grafts in many cases.

They are working to start clinical trials in the UK, and expect it to

be used in the US within 18 months.

The " injectable bone " won a prestigious medical innovation award last

week, and is the brainchild of Professor Shakesheff, from the

University of Nottingham.

Its advantage over traditional bone cements is in the hardening

process.

While conventional cements give off heat as they harden, killing

surrounding cells, and making them unusable in some parts of the

body, this polymer does not.

The material has the texture of toothpaste at room temperature, and

when it rises to body temperature, this is enough to trigger the

hardening reaction.

Professor Shakesheff said it was easy to inject into the right part

of the body without a surgical incision, unlike bone grafts, which

use bone taken from another part of the patient's body, such as the

hip, to plug a damaged gap.

" Not only does the patient need to be opened up, he or she is left

with a damaged area - using this would avoid that.

" We believe we can just insert the needle, follow it to the right

spot and inject the polymer, which will fill the desired area, and

set as hard as the bone on either side.

" Because the material does not heat up, surrounding bone cells

survive and can grow. "

Some limitations remain - even though the polymer is as hard as bone

within minutes, the join between itself and old bone is weaker, and a

leg fracture fixed this way would still need metal pins to stop it

shearing apart when the patient tried to walk.

However, he said that the lack of heat as the substance set meant

that it could potentially be used in other applications where a tough

scaffold was needed to support the growth of new cells.

This could one day even stretch to other damaged areas such as the

heart, he said.

'Fantastic potential'

Mr. Andy Goldberg, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Nuffield

Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, and a co-founder of the Medical Futures

awards, which honoured the invention last week, said: " This

technology has fantastic potential.

" As an orthopaedic surgeon, being able to work with a substance that

is flexible, as opposed to using hard bone will make a real

difference.

" The fact that it doesn't heat up when in the body, like many other

injectable substances is a significant breakthrough. "

Professor Shakesheff has created a biotechnology firm to help develop

and market the invention, and is now working to prove its safety so

that it can be used in hospitals.

He said that the swiftest route to market was in the US, where the

product could be available some time in 2010.

Professor Oreffo, a specialist in musculoskeletal science at

the University of Southampton, said that the material had potential.

" As I understand it, the advantage it has is that the patient's own

cells and growth factors can be delivered with it, and because

everything happens at room temperature, they are delivered intact to

the patient. "