Better Bone Blending

Engineers at Georgia Tech have created artificial bones that mimic the ability of natural bone to blend into other tissues such as tendons or ligaments using skin cells. The artificial bones display a gradual change from bone to softer tissue rather than the sudden shift of previously developed artificial tissue, providing better integration with the body and allowing them to handle weight more successfully.

“One of the biggest challenges in regenerative medicine is to have a graded continuous interface, because anatomically that’s how the majority of tissues appear and there are studies that strongly suggest that the graded interface provides better integration and load transfer,” said Andres Garcia, professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

If the technology is able to pass further testing, one vital application could be in the surgery of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL,) which often fails at the point where the ligament meets the bone. Engineers hope that if an artificial bone/ligament construct with these types of graded transitions were implanted, it might lead to more successful outcomes for patients.

 -- Justin Jernigan

Credit:  Andres Garcia / Georgia Tech

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