3D scaffolds help heal bones
Biomedical researchers from the College of Veterinary Medicine, a part of the UT Institute of Agriculture are evaluating novel technology. That allows bones to mend without the use of plates and screws using 3D printing technology for patient improvement.
David E. Anderson, associate dean for research and graduate studies at the college said
The traditional approach to repairing a gap in bone is putting implants in the body that help restore form and function, but that process leaves you with this hardware permanently. We have been developing degradable technologies that heal the body but don’t remain in the body forever.”
Anderson has collaborated with Alexandru Biris, director of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Centre for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, on bone regeneration technologies for almost 14 years. Biris created and patented highly porous polymeric scaffolds, which were refined and confirmed in partnership with Anderson. These scaffolds can be used to bridge bone gaps and guide existing bone tissue to fill them.
He further said
They are 3D structures designed for the bone tissue to grow into the spaces in the scaffold. The scaffold allows the tissue to know where to go.”
Anderson and his colleagues are also working on technologies for a precision medicine approach to orthopedic problems. Anderson envisions a future in which 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing. That is used to create bones, joints, and scaffolds to each patient’s requirements.
3D printing saves time and money!
UT Knoxville is already doing this kind of work, thanks to researchers like Rigoberto Advincula, the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for Advanced and Nanostructured Materials in UT’s Tickle College of Engineering.
Advincula said.
We are using 3D printing to prepare regenerative implants that are degradable—that are harmless for the body to metabolize. And this is smart technology, too, because we can 3D print to whatever shape or ratio we desire.”
This technique may eventually enable technicians to digitally design the required part from a PET or CT scan. And print it straight from an electronic file. Thereby eliminating the need to take a solid block of material and mill it to a patient’s specifications.
Beyond 3D printing forms like bones or even scaffolds, Advincula’s lab at UT’s Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing is designing and producing tendons that can connect bone to muscle. As well as assessing the tendons’ mechanical characteristics and range of motion.
Implanting prosthetic limbs can restore feeling and function
Advincula’s 3Dprinted tendons complement Dustin Crouch’s Upper Limb Assist Lab at the Tickle College of Engineering, which is working on 3D-printed endoprosthetics.
Crouch’s goal is to enable the patient to move their own limb by implanting a prosthetic and attaching it to the muscles via tendons. And covering it in the skin.
