Plant cellulose could be used for healthy bone graft
In a new finding, researchers have developed what could be the bone implant material of the future It's made by treating nanocrystals derived from plant cellulose so that they link up and forms a strong but lightweight sponge - technically speaking, an aerogel - that can compress or expand as needed to completely fill out a bone cavity. The study was published in Journal Acta Biomaterialia. "Most bone graft or implants are made of hard, brittle ceramic that doesn't always conform to the shape of the hole, and those gaps can lead to poor growth of the bone and implant failure," said study author Daniel Osorio, a PhD student in chemical engineering at McMaster. "We created this cellulose nanocrystal aerogel as a more effective alternative to these synthetic materials." For their research, the team worked with two groups of rats, with the first group receiving the aerogel implants and the second group receiving none. Results showed that the group wit...