Meniscus injuries may soon be treated by customizable hydrogel
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine found a new 3D-printed customizable hydrogel performed well in preclinical trials with several different types of meniscal tears, offering a potential mend for common joint injuries.
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Meniscus tears are common knee injuries that have long frustrated patients and doctors due to limited repair options. A new 3D-printed hydrogel made from cow meniscus could transform how these injuries heal, according to results of a preclinical study published in Bioactive Materials from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine
The meniscus is a complex structure that serves as a critical shock absorber in the knee and one-size-fits-all treatments aren’t always effective. Through creating a treatment adaptable to the different needs of patients, the researchers believe they may have unlocked a better fix no matter where the injury occurs 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,” says the study’s senior author, Su Chin Heo, an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and bioengineering in the McKay Orthopaedic Research Lab at Penn. “Current treatments, including graft-base methods, do not fully recreate these complex differences, leading to poor healing.”
Hydrogels are flexible, water-absorbing materials commonly found in everyday products like contact lenses and baby diapers. The researchers developed a specialized hydrogel by first extracting proteins from donor cow meniscus tissue. Those proteins then directed new cells to become the right types of repair cells for the damaged meniscus and were used as the basis for the treatment’s structures.
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