A new calcium phosphate foam with open pore macroporosity useful for bone regeneration and drug release has been patented and developed.
The Challenge
Hidroxyapatyte is a natural mineral found in teeth and bones. It is commonly used as a filler to regenerate bone or as a coating to promote bone growth. The application of calcium phosphate cements, which can form hydoxyapatite, in the treatment of bone defects, begun more than two decades ago and many formulations have been developed so far.
The ideal bone replacing cement should be osteoconductive and osteoinductive, to stimulate bone regeneration. Moreover, it should be resorbable and gradually replaced by newly formed bone. Although most of the developed calcium phosphate cements are more resorbable than sintered hydroxypatite ceramics, they still show relatively slow resorption kinetics and in many cases the cement remains stable in the implanted site during years. The absence of interconnected macropores is indeed a limiting factor to achieve resorption. If the designed material has macropores, cells can colonize it and the access of osteoclasts is facilitated increasing the rate of healing of the bone defect.
The Technology
The present invention allows to obtain a composite calcium phosphate foam by combining solutions of biopolymers with foaming properties with calcium phosphate powders. An excellent open pore macroporosity is achieved upon and following implantation by injection. The final mixture has the ability to set through a cementitious reaction in the biological environment of the body. Gelatine, sodium alginate and/or soybean derived polymers can be used as foaming agents and/or foam stabilisers and as injectability promoters for a calcium phosphate cement.
Current stage of development
The material has been characterised in terms of chemical, mechanical and biological properties, both in vitro and in vivo.
Applications and Target Market
This technology allows to obtain a new material useful for bone regeneration and as scaffold for bone tissue engineering. It could also be used for sustaining the controlled release of active agents such as soy isoflavones in bony tissues to prevent bone loss in menopause. It could be of interest for biomaterials Research and Development companies.
Innovative advantages
The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech is a public institution dedicated to higher education and research in the fields of engineering, architecture and science, which contributes its knowledge and expertise in order to increase scientific output, transfer its results to society and provide a network of scientific and technical state-of-the-art facilities and technology valorization services that place us at the leading edge of innovation and economic development.
The UPC has established itself as a driver of innovation and is the technology partner of choice for companies and organizations with which it develops projects and builds partnerships. A role borne out by the numerous agreements and research projects that have been set in motion by groups, organizations and laboratories; the creation of new technology-based companies; the generation and exploitation of patents, and the scientific and technical services UPC makes available to its environment in order to generate progress and employment.
The Technology Transfer Office (SGI) is responsible of Designing, coordinating and implementing research valorisation strategies, carrying out the protection policy of the research results, marketing these results through license contracts and designing and setting up the University's enterprise creation model in order to transfer the results of the research to the market, protect and commercialize these results, promote the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, and create technology-based companies within the UPC environment.
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