This hydrogel-based therapy is designed to be customizable to the wants of the world the place the meniscus was torn, together with variations in tissue stiffness. Credit score: Perelman College of Drugs on the College of Pennsylvania
Meniscus tears are frequent knee accidents which have lengthy pissed off sufferers and docs attributable to restricted restore choices. A brand new 3D-printed hydrogel constructed from cow meniscus might remodel how these accidents heal, in accordance with outcomes of a pre-clinical examine printed in Bioactive Supplies from researchers within the Perelman College of Drugs on the College of Pennsylvania.
The meniscus is a fancy construction that serves as a crucial shock absorber within the knee and one-size-fits-all therapies aren’t at all times efficient. By way of making a therapy adaptable to the completely different wants of sufferers, the researchers consider they could have unlocked a greater repair regardless of the place the harm happens in a meniscus.
“We developed a hydrogel that can be adjusted based on the patient’s age and the stiffness requirements of the injured tissue, which is important because the meniscus has different biochemical and biomechanical properties that vary depending upon the location in the tissue,” stated the examine’s senior writer, Su Chin Heo, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgical procedure and Bioengineering within the McKay Orthopaedic Analysis Lab at Penn. “Current treatments, including graft-base methods, do not fully recreate these complex differences, leading to poor healing.”
Hydrogels are versatile, water-absorbing supplies generally present in on a regular basis merchandise like contact lenses and child diapers. The researchers developed a specialised hydrogel by first extracting proteins from donor cow meniscus tissue. These proteins then directed new cells to change into the proper forms of restore cells for the broken meniscus and had been used as the premise for the therapy’s constructions.
To forestall rejection, the crew eliminated mobile elements from the cow tissue whereas preserving its structural framework. This “decellularization” course of reduces the chance of immune reactions when implanted, making the therapy each safer and simpler.
To additional customise the hydrogels, Heo and his fellow researchers used 3D-printing methods to account for the variation within the meniscus tissue. That manner, they may extra carefully match the tissue within the areas they had been attempting to restore. Mismatched tissues may not heal nicely.
“In our animal studies, we’ve seen the hydrogel integrate well with the surrounding tissue, potentially offering patients a more complete recovery,” stated the examine’s first writer Se-Hwan Lee, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow within the McKay Lab. “It’s a more precise, biologically matched solution. We believe this could outperform current treatments.”
The crew is now transitioning from small mammal research to massive animal fashions.
“Our first clinical goal will be to treat smaller, localized meniscus tears,” Heo stated. “Once we have success there, I believe we could expand to more complex injuries in the meniscus.”
Extra data:
Se-Hwan Lee et al, Precision restore of zone-specific meniscal accidents utilizing a tunable extracellular matrix-based hydrogel system, Bioactive Supplies (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2025.02.013
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Meniscus accidents could quickly be handled by customizable hydrogel (2025, March 25)
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