Natural material – hydroxyapatite – transforms into new bone tissue

An injection of bone substitute around orthopaedic implants strengthens and stabilises bones. When people are also given an injection of bisphosphonate, new bone tissue is formed. The bone substitute is a natural component called hydroxyapatite.

“Our material solidifies within minutes, and immediately improves the strength of the bone anchorache,” explains Dr Deepak Raina who is involved in the work. “In a second step, the patient is given an injection of a drug, a bisphosphonate, that finds its way via the bloodstream to the bone mineral, where it binds and activates new bone formation around the implant. Hydroxyapatite and bisphosphonate are both well-established and approved for human use. What we have contributed with is the combination of the two.”

Six months after the operation, the patients underwent a DEXA scan. This showed that bone tissue had increased by 10% around the screw head compared with the control group.

The research is important as around 200 million people globally suffer from osteoporosis.

So far the research has been largely experimental. The next step is larger studies on people with osteoporosis.

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