THE INJECTABLE BONE THAT BRAKES NEW GROUND

LIQUID: Toothpaste-like texture sets in minutes

Tuesday December 2,2008

A liquid that can be injected to help repair shattered limbs could revolutionise bone graft surgery.

Scientists at Nottingham University have developed a synthetic substance with a texture like toothpaste, which has similar properties to real bone.

Injecting it into the required area would eliminate the need for healthy bone to be taken from another part of the body, ground up and implanted into the site that needs repairing. It will also make the grafting procedure quicker and less invasive.

Similar substances have been developed but they come in a set shape which has to be either poured into the patient or shaped with a spatula.

Professor Kevin Shakesheff, who led the research, says: “In orthopaedic surgery you are often faced with a defect with a very convoluted shape.

“The best way to deliver the product is to have it injected and actually fl ow and fi nd the shape itself – a bit like Polyfi lla.”

Professor Shakesheff’s invention, which is called Regenoss-I, is unique because it temperature. This prevents the liquid substance from fl owing out of the bone cavity.

“Once it hardens, it is 70 per cent air, so there’s loads of space for new bone to grow into it,” he says.

When new bone has grown into the air spaces, the material, which takes up the other 30 per cent, biodegrades harmlessly.

The injectable bone is a finalist at tonight’s Medical Futures Innovation Awards.