PFI:AIR - TT: Biomimetic Composite for Segmental Bone Regeneration

该PFI：AIR技术翻译项目的重点是翻译一种新的骨移植技术，以满足大型创伤性节段性骨缺损重建的需要。创新的骨移植材料在治疗涉及车辆事故的患者、肿瘤切除后的癌症患者、涉及爆炸伤的士兵或需要大量骨移植以保持连续性的先天性颅面损伤的儿童方面非常重要。该项目将产生一种原型骨移植物，作为同种异体移植物或脱矿骨的替代品，用于重建节段性股骨或胫骨缺损。这种骨替代技术的独特之处在于材料模仿致密皮质骨的天然结构和组成。这种独特的功能提供了一种安全，机械稳定，可吸收的移植物，刺激骨形成，而不会引发免疫反应，并最终由患者自身的组织取代。与市场上领先的同种异体移植产品相比，这导致了更可持续的愈合解决方案。 本项目旨在解决自体骨移植治疗大面积创伤性节段性骨缺损患者的技术差距差距。仿生方法用于产生类似于天然致密皮质骨的支架结构，以克服强度不足以及移植物与骨形成同时的可调吸收的技术差距。在这种方法中，通过在用钙螯合肽功能化的纳米纤维上成核磷酸钙晶体来产生骨传导微片。接下来，通过将微片包裹和融合成皮质骨样圆柱形结构来产生刚性的承重支架。然后，通过激光微钻孔在圆柱形结构的表面上形成微通道阵列，以形成哈弗斯和鲍曼样管道的互连网络，用于支架中的可调再吸收和均匀的营养物运输。仿生支架装载有骨形态发生蛋白-2以产生用于募集骨祖细胞和调节干细胞命运朝向骨形成的移植物。该项目的结果是一种无免疫原性、机械稳定、导电和诱导的骨移植物，最终由患者置换？我们自己的组织，为一个更可持续的愈合解决方案。此外，参与该项目的生物医学工程本科生，博士生和博士后研究人员将通过与Faber创业中心和大学技术商业化办公室的导师合作采访产品生态系统不同部分的人来接受创业和技术翻译培训。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating a novel bone graft technology to fill the need for the reconstruction of large traumatic segmental bone defects. The innovative bone graft material is important in treating patients involved in vehicle accidents, cancer patients following tumor resection, soldiers involved in blast injuries, or children with congenital craniofacial injuries that require large amounts of bone graft to maintain continuity. The project will result in a prototype bone graft as an alternative to allograft or demineralized bone for reconstruction of segmental femur or tibia defects. The unique feature of this bone substitute technology is that the material mimics the natural structure and composition of dense cortical bone. This unique feature provides a safe, mechanically-stable, and resorbable graft that stimulates bone formation without eliciting an immune response and is ultimately displaced by the patient's own tissue. This results in a more sustainable healing solution when compared to the leading allograft products in the market. This project addresses the gap in technology for an autologous bone graft in treating patients with large, traumatic segmental bone defects. A biomimetic approach is used to produce a scaffold structure similar to that of natural dense cortical bone in order to overcome the technological gap in insufficient strength as well as tunable resorption of the graft concurrent with bone formation. In this approach, osteoconductive microsheets are generated by nucleating calcium phosphate crystals on nanofibers functionalized with calcium-chelating peptides. Next, rigid, load-bearing scaffolds are generated by the wrapping and fusion of the microsheets into a cortical-bone-like cylindrical structure. Then, an array of microchannels are formed on the surface of the cylindrical structure by laser micro-drilling to form an interconnected network of Haversian- and Volkmann-like canals for tunable resorption and uniform nutrient transport in the scaffold. The biomimetic scaffold is loaded with bone morphogenetic protein-2 to produce a graft for recruitment of osteoprogenitor cells and regulation of stem cell fate toward bone formation. The outcome of this project is a non-immunogenic, mechanically-stable, conductive, and inductive bone graft ultimately displaced by the patient?s own tissue for a more sustainable healing solution. In addition, biomedical engineering undergraduates, doctoral students, and post-doctoral researchers involved in this project will receive training in entrepreneurship and technology translation through interviewing the people in different parts of the product ecosystem in collaboration with mentors at the Faber Entrepreneurship Center and the Office of Technology Commercialization at the University.