The spongy polymer is able to fill holes in bones

Forty million nine hundred seventy nine thousand eight hundred thirteen



Whether the result of injury, surgery or birth defects such as cleft palate, missing sections of bone in the skull or jaw, of course, all this affects a person's appearance. Although there are some ways of solving such problems, they have important limitations. Newly developed foam material can succeed where seemingly no way out.

Usually bone defects of the head, face or jaw are filled or bones from other parts of the patient's body (e.g., thigh), or with a special material called "bone putty."

Bones from other parts of the body must be cut accurately to fit the hole of the defect, which in some situations extremely difficult. In addition, complications can arise in the place which had been cut to the bone.

Bone putty, of course, more pliable option, but its non-porous structure does not allow to grow the adjacent bone tissue of the body.

The new material created by scientists at Texas a & M University under the direction of Dr. Melissa Grunlan, known as a polymer. It is made from linked molecules of poly (ε-caprolactone), which is "an elastic, biodegradable substance that is already used in some medical implants". It is also covered in a sticky polymer called polydopamine.

When heated to 140 ° F (60 ° C), polymer SMP becomes soft and spongy, after which they fill the gaps in the bones. When the polymer is cooled to the temperature of the body, he returns to his ordinary hard consistency. Essentially, the polymer blocks a hole, and polydopamine helps to secure it.

After the SMP polymer filled bone and hardens, its porous structure provides space, or scaffolding for your own bone cells of the patient. Since the material is biological, eventually fully restored is a natural part of the bone.

Scientists tested the new material in laboratory conditions on animals. Human trials are planned to take place in the future.

Professor Grunlan and her team of scientists presented their research this week at two hundred and forty-eighth National meeting and exposition of the American chemical society.

 

Source: www.scitech-news.ru/

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