Is it possible to make new bones in the human body, without bone grafting or bone donation? The answer is yes – when combining nanotechnology, 3D printing, and stem cells, completely new methods can be developed.
Bone grafting is a surgical procedure that uses transplanted bone to repair and rebuild damaged or diseased bones in the human body. The technology can be used virtually anywhere in the body. The surgeon needs to take either bone tissue from the patient - usually from the hips, legs or ribs - or use donated bone tissue. Both methods are, however, time-consuming, and it is not always easy to find a donor.
A research project is being run to investigate brand-new ways of repairing damaged bone tissue without the need for a donor or transplants from other parts of the body. By combining 3D printing technology, nanotechnology, and stem cells, completely new bone tissue can be created in the body.
The technique involves printing 3D scaffolds – similar to the patient’s natural bones – from biomaterials. Live stem cells from the patient are added to the scaffold, which is then surgically inserted into the damaged area and stimulates the body’s natural bone healing processes.
“It’s a whole new way of repairing bone structure,” says Kristin Syverud, Head of Research at RISE PFI. “We use the body’s stem cells and make them grow into new bone structure. But it doesn’t happen by itself, they need a scaffold to grow on, and we make that from nanocellulose, which has shown great promise.”
Can also regenerate difficult structures
Using the 3D printer, the idea is to be able to even regenerate complicated bone structures. Based on X-rays of the patient, it is possible to see where there is missing or damaged bone, and the new method enables this precise area to be replaced.
“The idea is to be able to print scaffolds in exactly the shape needed, which has not been especially easy to achieve before,” says Syverud. “Depending on the type of bone defect, this can be very difficult. We have collaborated with dentists and others in the project, and you can just imagine the incredibly complex bone structures we have in our mouths and jaws, for example.”
“It’s a whole new way of repairing bone structure,”
Ongoing research
Research is advancing, but before the technology can be put into widespread use in healthcare, a few steps must still be overcome. The cellulose must be safe to use, and it must have a surface structure on which the stem cells adhere, start dividing, and grow.
“And they should want to develop into bone cells. We have seen promising results for this; we can change the surface chemistry so that bone cells are specifically formed.”
Once the bone tissue has developed, the scaffold on which the cells have grown gradually degrades and disappears. Cellulose does not break down naturally in the human body, so it needs help to do so, but once the cellulose has degraded, it is converted into glucose – a sugar – which we can easily absorb.
"So it’s a completely unproblematic metabolite,” explains Syverud.
In the future, there will be several ways to use the technique, including for deep wounds or burns.
“The same procedure can be used to develop skin cells instead of bone tissue. It’s also possible that the same technique will be used to produce cartilage or other organs, but this is very complicated.”
Expertise at RISE
RISE has several environments with a high level of expertise in nanocellulose and its use in various applications.
"In Trondheim, we are researching nanocellulose for use in connection with creating new body tissues,” says Syverud.
