Find A Better Way
Find A Better Way bone project
Sir Bobby Charlton et al signing the agreement to launch the £2.8m regenerative medicine project at the University of Glasgow
Synthetically grown 3D-printed bone will soon be a reality for survivors of landmine accidents after a £2.8 million regenerative medicine project at the University of Glasgow was launched.
The project, funded by Sir Bobby Charlton’s charity Find A Better Way, was officially signed by Deputy Project Leader Professor Matt Dalby, University of Glasgow Vice Principal Professor Jon Cooper, Find A Way Better Way CEO Lou McGrath OBE and Sir Bobby last week.
The team of researchers at the centre of the project will use a 3D printer to form the structure of bones which have been affected by landmine blasts. An estimated 4,300 people are injured or killed in landmine-related accidents every year. This statistic was the initial inspiration for Find A Better Way in 2011.
In many countries where armed conflict ceased years ago, landmines remain, and the victims of landmine blasts are overwhelmingly innocent civilians and children. As modern landmines are designed to maim rather than kill, this results in a constant demand for reconstructive blast injury surgery. Typically, the amount of reconstruction possible is often limited by the amount of bone that can be saved from the injury. Though, 3D printing may be about to change this.
Bobby Charlton
Professor Manuel Salmeron-Sanchez (right) with Find A Better Way's Sir Bobby Charlton
Theoretically, bone regrowth is possible with current medical technology using a type of protein known as a ‘growth factor’. But this has never been successfully trialled without serious complications or side effects. The Find A Better Way-funded project at the University of Glasgow is designed to do exactly as its name suggests.
A research team will use a 3D printer to create bone scaffolds, which are then coated with nanolayers of a growth factor known as BMP-2 and stem cells. Then, they are placed into a specially designed machine known as a ‘Nanokick’ invented by Professor Matt Dalby, which shakes the bone scaffold 15 nanometers, 1,000 times per second. This further stimulates the stem cells and growth factor to interact and start growing bone tissue on the scaffold at an accelerated rate.
When completed, it will be possible within a few days to create bespoke bone pieces to fit the needs of individual patients. Once implanted in the body, bone tissue will continue to grow, replacing the scaffold which dissolves, leaving only new bone behind.
“It is hard to overestimate what an important breakthrough this could be for landmine blast survivors,” said McGrath. “Advances in reconstructive surgical techniques now encourage trauma surgeons to retain as much of a limb as possible instead of quickly amputating above the knee. In many cases, the amount of bone that can be recovered is a limiting factor in how much of a leg or arm can be salvaged. With the developments from this project, we could reach a situation where it is only the limitations of surgical techniques, not the amount of viable tissue remaining, that determines the outcome.”
Nanokick biocreator
The bone scaffolds coated with BMP-2 and stem cells are placed into a specially designed machine known as a ‘Nanokick’ invented by Professor Matt Dalby
Alongside this, the University of Glasgow team will also be developing small blocks of ‘off the shelf’ synthetic bone that can be shipped to anywhere in the world for a local surgeon to cut and shape to a patient’s need. This product will use the same process, but using shapes and sizes that are likely to fit common blast injury needs.
“We have been developing various types of bone-related technology at the University of Glasgow for the previous five years,” said Project lead Professor Manuel Salmeron-Sanchez from the University of Glasgow. “Thanks to the support of Find A Better Way we can improve and combine these technologies for use in extreme situations where a significant amount of bone is needed urgently.
“With our interdisciplinary team of bioengineers, biologists and surgeons and the financial support of Find A Better Way we expect efficient progress towards the generation of bone, and we look forward to landmine blast survivors of the future having an improved quality of life.”
Following the signing of the funding agreement on 16th December, with the project set to commence from the start of 2017. It is projected to conduct a ‘first man’ study within five years.
