New 'injectable' foam can help repair bones damaged due to osteoporosis

The new injectable foam developed by researchers in France can help heal bones, broken and damaged by degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis.

More than 70 percent of the human bones contain calcium phosphate mineral called hydroxyapatite. Since many decades, a substitute called Calcium Phosphate Cements (CPCs) are used to repair damaged bones. The injectable foam developed recently also contain CPCs, but its formula is much more suitable for use in adults and those with brittle bones.

CPCs allow the surgeons to fix broken bones in situ and are capable of being injected, in addition to being microporous and biocompatible. However, until now, the researchers were unable to include macroporosity in these injectable CPCs to enhance quick bone regeneration. CPCs that were macroporous and injectable had poor mechanical properties, reports Gizmodo Australia.

In the latest research, a team at the University of Nantes have created a macroporous self-setting CPC in the form of an injectable foam. The team used silanised-hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (Si-HPMC) hydrogel as a foaming agent. The research team says that their experimental CPC foam possesses great mechanical properties and macroporous structure.

To test their product, the researchers created live defects in the thigh bones of two live rabbits and injected the foam into the created cavities. An analysis of the site later revealed that the foam had effectively filled the cavities, without producing any toxic effects.

The study results have made researchers believe that the injectable CPC foam could act as an effective and feasible material for treatment of certain bone defects, ailments and diseases.

“We think this could be a good biomaterial, perhaps with active molecules, to act against osteoporosis locally. We need to determine the proof of concept in animal models,” said researcher Pierre Weiss, reports Chemistry World.

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