Revolutionary Bone Graft Coating (Orthopedics This Week)
A team of researchers at Penn State has found that coating a bone graft with an inorganic compound found in bones and teeth may significantly increase the likelihood of a successful implant. The scientists have developed a way to create a rough surface on bone grafts that is similar in texture to the surface of an untreated bone. This similarity promotes healing in the bone.
“We created a method for resurfacing bone that had been processed, and resurfacing that bone so that it is now nearly as osteogenic as unprocessed bone—meaning it works nearly as well as bone that hadn't been processed at all,” said Henry J. Donahue, Michael and Myrtle Baker Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Penn State College of Medicine, in the September 24, 2012 news release. “That’s the bottom line.”
Donahue, who is also a faculty member of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, and Alayna Loiselle, postdoctoral fellow in orthopedics and rehabilitation, Penn State College of Medicine, teamed up with Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics.
To find the optimum thickness of hydroxyapatite, ...
