Presenting the answer to 'Artificial bone' perfectly tailored to your body

Development of 'Bone defect and disease convergence treatment technology'

#Prologue> Background of technology development

Mr. Luseranim, who has lived a life feeling inferior due to his short height.

Mr. Dosago who suffered a fracture in an unexpected accident.

Miss Na-so-oe, who has suffered from limb deformity.

The reason they were able to return to society with a smile was thanks to advanced modern medicine like Ilizarov.

Ilizarov is widely used to treat bone-related loss and diseases, including rare and intractable musculoskeletal diseases, based on the principle of cutting healthy bone near the problematic bone, firmly fixing it with an external fixation device, and then gradually increasing it by 1 mm per day so that new bone is slowly created.

However, it takes about 30 days for 1 cm to grow normally, requiring constant patience, and there are also problems such as reoperation due to failure to fix the artificial bone transplanted to promote bone formation, and additional antibiotic administration due to bacterial infection problems.

#Technology Introduction> Korea University Medical Center's Artificial Bone Development

Accordingly, Korea University Medical Center intends to apply the 'Bone Fracture Package', which integrates all methods necessary for complete cure, such as muscle, skin, artificial bone, external fixation device, and bone growth factors, to the medical field for bone defects and diseases.

In particular, we are accelerating research and development of artificial bone manufacturing technology, which can be said to be the core of treatment.

Korea University Medical Center's unique artificial bone manufacturing technology, named 'Manufacturing technology of antibiotic and bone formation-promoting substance-releasing implants or scaffolds with bone fusion enhancement and antibacterial efficacy', aims to reduce the implant failure rate due to bacteria and shorten the treatment time by promoting bone formation.

#Technology Introduction> Comparison with Existing Technologies

Existing bone cement (Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)) had disadvantages such as difficulty in controlling antibiotic release and secondary surgery for removal, and autologous bone grafting had risks of complications such as post-operative pain and infection because bone tissue was obtained from one's own body, and allogeneic bone grafting, such as bone from dead people, had poor bone regeneration ability, leading to frequent reoperation.

Korea University Medical Center's artificial bone manufacturing technology complements the shortcomings of existing artificial bones by sequentially immobilizing antibiotics and bone formation-promoting growth factor BMP-2 on the titanium metal surface treated with dopamine and heparin.

Therefore, since antibiotics are released continuously for a long period of time, it prevents bacterial infections that may occur during or after the implantation process, significantly reducing the implantation failure rate and eliminating the need for additional antibiotic administration.

In addition, BMP-2, which promotes bone fusion and bone formation, is continuously released for a long period of time, improving bone formation function due to adhesion between artificial bone and bone tissue and promotion of osteoblast differentiation, which can shorten the treatment period by more than 10 days.

Above all, it is possible to manufacture artificial bones that perfectly fit the defects of each patient, increasing the success rate of implantation and reducing the economic burden caused by reoperation.

Methods using 3D bio-printing technology, methods using stem cells, and artificial bone surface coating technology for mass production of these artificial bones are also being actively pursued.

#Technology Prospects> Pioneering the Blue Ocean

The BMP-2 market, currently led by the United States, is creating tremendous economic value with a scale of 1 trillion won in the United States alone, and the artificial bone market is expected to grow to a huge scale as the number of patients with bone defects and diseases increases worldwide due to the aging population.

In these times, the excellent technology of Korea University Medical Center's 'Bone Fracture Package', a convergence treatment method for bone defects and diseases, will become the main player in pioneering the blue ocean and the Korean wave in the medical market.