Bio-glass for cartilage restoration

Cartilage tissue is an elastic connective tissue, mainly localized in the joints, including between the vertebrae, where it performs a cushioning function. Throughout life, cartilage is subjected to heavy loads and is often damaged or worn out. At the same time, unfortunately, cartilage tissue is restored much worse than other types of connective tissue.

In computer animation, the researchers demonstrate how a skeleton can be implanted into the knee joint to stimulate the growth of cartilage cells and repair damaged cartilage.

Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Milan-Bicocca have developed a material with shock-absorbing properties and the ability to withstand a weight load, similar to the corresponding qualities of cartilage tissue. Dubbed "bio-glass", the material can be modified to obtain different properties and the developers plan to use it to create implants to replace damaged intervertebral discs. They also hope that the new material has the ability to stimulate the growth of cartilage cells in the knee joints, which specialists have not been able to achieve so far.

In the video, the researchers demonstrate the cushioning properties of bio-glass bouncing off the surface of the table.

Bio-glass consists of silicon oxide and organic plastic – the polymer polycaprolactone – and has the properties that cartilage tissue should have, namely flexibility, strength, durability and elasticity. It can be produced in the form of biodegradable ink suitable for creating three-dimensional structures or frameworks that promote the formation and growth of cartilage cells in the knee joint. They have already demonstrated the viability of this approach in laboratory experiments.

In addition to all this, bio-glass has the ability to self-repair damage, which improves the quality of the implant and facilitates three-dimensional printing if its liquid form is used.

In the video, the researchers demonstrate the ability of bio-glass to self-repair after being cut into two parts.

One of the varieties of bio-glass developed by the authors can be used to treat the restoration of damage to intervertebral discs. With thinning of the cartilaginous discs between the vertebrae, patients experience severe pain when moving. The traditional approach to treatment in such cases is to fasten the vertebrae together, which limits the mobility of the spine. The researchers hope that in the future this problem will be solved with the help of implants made of the material they have developed.

The second promising area of application of bio-glass is the treatment of damage to the cartilage of the knee joint. Currently, surgeons resort to replacing damaged cartilage with scar tissue, but eventually many patients have to resort to knee replacement surgery.

The authors plan to create three-dimensional biodegradable frameworks from a liquid type of bio-glass, which, after implantation into the knee joint, will simultaneously replace damaged cartilage and promote the growth of cartilage cells inside the microscopic pores penetrating them. Over time, such skeletons will decompose, leaving behind new cartilages with mechanical properties comparable to those of the original cartilage tissue.

One of the developers of bio-glass, Professor Julian Jones, notes that the first prototype of bio-glass appeared already in the 1960s and was originally intended to repair bone damage in wounded participants of the Vietnam War. And the results of the study conducted by the authors indicate that the elastic version of this material can be used to repair damage to cartilage tissue.

In the near future, the authors plan to develop a method of surgical insertion of implants. They note that in order to conduct clinical trials of both proposed approaches, there are still many difficulties to overcome, including regulatory ones, and it will take at least 10 years before they appear on the market.

Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Imperial College London: New bio-glass could make it possible to re-grow or replace cartilage.

18.05.2016