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 Ace7447 rated 4 months ago -
Researchers say they may soon be able to repair injured and worn-out cartilage with the help of nanotubes. Currently, patients must either go under the knife to mend faulty cartilage (connective tissue that normally pads the ends of bones at joints to keep them from grinding against one another)...
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- Ace7447 rated 4 months ago
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Researchers say they may soon be able to repair injured and worn-out cartilage with the help of nanotubes. Currently, patients must either go under the knife to mend faulty cartilage (connective tissue that normally pads the ends of bones at joints to keep them from grinding against one another). But scientists say they may one day be able to insert microscopic carbon nanotubes into injured joints--such as knees--encouraging new, stronger cartilage cells to grow in place damaged or thinning ones.
Researchers report in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A that they successfully grew cartilage around carbon nanotubes in their lab--and are optimistic that one day they will be able to duplicate the feat inside the human body. They may get a step closer in September, when they plan to implant carbon nanotubes in sheep joints to test--for the first time--their technique outside the lab.
Thomas Webster, an associate engineering professor at Brown University, and Brown researcher Dongwoo Khang, along with Grace Park, a research scientist (and one of Webster's former PhD students) at Becton, Dickinson and Company, a Franklin Lakes, N.J.-medical technology firm, say they grew cartilage cells by placing chondrocytes (cartilage-forming cells) and carbon nanotubes together on a polycarbonate urethane surface. As expected, cartilage cells grew around the nanotubes, which are so strong that scientists now use them to reinforce plastic. Researchers say they hastened new cell production by sending electrical surges through the nanotubes, which are also excellent conductors of electricity.
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