Biomaterials to Stimulate Regeneration
Many branches of medicine are concerned with manipulating tissue and its environment so as to generate the right biochemical signals for increased regeneration - strategies that we hope will become obsolete as researchers learn to create those signals directly. Here is one example: "ChonDux consists of a hydrogel made of polyethylene glycol - a polymer commonly used in a variety of medical products - and a bioadhesive to keep the hydrogel in place after injection. First, the surgeon coats the inside of the cavity where the cartilage is missing with the bioadhesive and then, as in microfracture [surgery], drills tiny holes into the bone next to the cavity. Then the surgeon fills the empty space with the hydrogel and shines UVA light on the material, which causes the polymer to harden from a viscous liquid into a gel. The blood clot that forms from the microfracture then gets trapped in the hydrogel. ... more cells from the bone marrow get trapped in the blood clot when the hydrogel is present, compared with microfracture conducted without the gel. The researchers also noted that the defects fill faster with the biomaterial than without, and that the newly formed tissue more closely resembles true cartilage."
Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=21448