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Author: Bob Ilka, Phys.org

(Phys.org)-A group of researchers affiliated with several institutions in France has developed an injectable foam that can be used as a treatment for osteoporosis and other bone degenerative diseases. The team published a paper in Acta Biomaterialia magazine, describing how they came up with foam, how it works, and its uses.

For more than a century, surgeons have been using various types of calcium phosphate cement (CPC) to repair bones damaged by trauma. This method is very effective in various situations. However, they are not effective in repairing bones that have degenerated due to diseases such as osteoporosis. The problem is that traditional CPC is microporous, but not macroporous-the difference lies in the size of the air cavity inside the material. In order to be used to repair degraded bones, the cavity needs to be larger than 50 nanometers. In this new effort, the research team reported that the foam they developed met this standard.

This foam is made by placing a silanized hydroxypropyl methylcellulose hydrogel in one syringe and conventional CPC in another syringe. After pumping air into the CPC syringe, connect the two syringes together, and then push the two plungers at the same time to mix the two with air. The result is that cavities are uniformly formed throughout the combined material. Test the resulting foam by scratching the bones of the test rabbit and injecting foam into the area to see if it will fill the missing bone area as a placeholder while new bones grow in to fill the gap. Researchers report that there is no obvious toxic effect on rabbits, and new bone grows to the injured site as expected, which can be used to repair similar injuries in humans, and may even provide a way to rejuvenate bones that have deteriorated. Gave up hope due to disease.

The team plans to conduct more tests on the material, with the goal of using it in clinical trials one day, both as a tool for treating traumatic bones and helping people with skeletal diseases. Further exploration of the layering method may produce stronger and more successful bone implants. More information: A simple and effective method for preparing injectable macroporous calcium phosphate cement for bone repair: syringe foaming using a viscous hydrophilic polymer solution , Journal of Biomaterials, available online on November 26, 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2015.11.055

Abstract In this study, we proposed a simple and effective strategy to prepare injectable macroporous calcium phosphate cement (CPC) by injection foaming through a hydrophilic viscous polymer solution, such as using silanized hydroxypropyl methyl Cellulose (Si-HPMC) is used as a blowing agent. Si-HPMC foam CPC exhibits excellent handling properties, such as injectability and cohesion. The hardened foam CPC has hierarchical macropores, and its mechanical properties (Young's modulus and compressive strength) are comparable to those of cancellous bone. In addition, preliminary in vivo studies were performed on the distal part of the rabbit femur to evaluate the biofunctionality of this injectable macroporous CPC. Evidence of newly formed bones in the central area of ​​the implantation site indicates the feasibility and effectiveness of this foaming strategy and must be optimized through further extensive animal experiments. Journal information: Journal of Biomaterials

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