I-Corps: Biomimetic Degradable Load Bearing Osteoconductive Bone Graft

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The technology developed through this project generates a bone implant that maintains its shape and provides mechanical stability to allow bone to form around the implant. Afterward, the implant degrades with time to provide volume for new bone formation. This combines the microstructure of cortical bone with degradability of polyester nanofibers to address the issues of scaffold resorption, strength and uniform nutrient supply. To address the issues of compressive strength and resorption, the team will engineer calcium phosphate (CaP) deposited polyester nanofiber sheets with high CaP content. To address the issue of uniform nutrient supply, the team will engineer a bonded set of macroporous laminated microtubes with interconnected canals. Upon seeding the scaffold with progenitor cells, a pre-vascularized resorbable and stiff graft is formed for implantation in a bone defect.Unlike metallic implants that are non-resorbable and shield stress or ceramic and plastic implants that are brittle and deformable, the product of this invention mimics the structure of natural cortical bone for mechanical stability, degradation, and uniform nutrient supply. Competitive advantages include tunable resorption, load bearing with tunable mechanical strength, osteoconductive to support new bone formation, interconnected microtubular structure for uniform nutrient transport, and compatible with growth factors and stem cells. Application o fthis technology can migrate to areas other than orthopedics, like in pharmaceutics for drug delivery and targeting, in bioprinting for generation of complex structures and 3D models of human tissues, and engineering multifunctional biosensors.