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Newly developed material may lead to improved joint replacements
August 14, 2008

Researchers have found a way to make joint replacements last longer. Scientists and engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new, biologically-inspired, material which may enhance tissue healing, improve bone growth around the implant, and strengthen the attachment of the implant to the bone.   

On average, a knee or hip replacement may last 15 years before it begins to breakdown and loosen. As a result, those who have replacement surgeries at a young age may face a second surgery to replace the initial artificial joint.

The most advanced replacement surgery at this time involves the roughening of the surface of a titanium implant, or coating it with ceramic which will bond directly to the bone.

The research team at Georgia Tech has developed a thin, dense polymer to be used to coat the titanium implant. This team includes graduate students Tim Petrie and Jenny Raynor, professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow Andres Garcia, Professor David Collard, and Research Technician Kellie Burns.

“We’ve designed a coating that specifically communicates with cells and we’re telling the cells to grow bone around the implant,” said Andres Garcia in a current news story released by the school.

The polymer used mimics a protein contained within the body, fibronectin, which becomes a binding site for cell surface receptors called integrins. While small portions of fibronectin have been mimicked before, Garcia was able to engineer a larger section of the protein, involving more sections used in integrin binding.

 Having control over this step is a key component to the enhancement of replacement surgery because intergrins control signals that call for bone formation. In doing so, it may be possible to control bone growth around the implant.

The overall goal of this research is to control communication with the body’s cells, and the response of the body to implanted devices. If this can be achieved, both the performance and longevity of these implants may be significantly increased.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Arthritis Foundation, and the Georgia Tech/Emory National Science Foundation Research Center on the Engineering of Living Tissues.

Posted by Melissa D'Amico on August 14, 2008 | Comments (0)