MISiS: Knee Implant Prototype

Main article: Osteoarthritis

2023: Development of a knee implant prototype

The prototype of a biocompatible bone-cartilage implant of the knee joint was developed by young scientists at NUST MISIS. The university announced this to Zdrav.Expert on June 23, 2023. The proposed technology will improve engraftment and establish the production of products for the Russian market. The development is presented as a diploma project of a graduate of the specialized iPhD program "Biomaterial Science."

NUST MISIS developed a prototype knee implant

Diseases of the knee joint are one of the main causes of adult disability. According to population Russia official statistics, the osteoarthritis knee joint, in which about 4.5 million people suffer, but the real number of patients reaches 15 million.

If local knee injuries are not cured in time, they can lead to serious consequences, up to complete knee replacement. However, the cartilaginous tissue of the joint that suffers the most from osteoarthritis, due to its special structure, has a low level of regeneration and leads to severe damage to the entire joint.

To replace cartilage tissue, thermoplastic polyurethane filled with spheroids from chondrocytes - cartilage tissue cells was used, to replace bone tissue - polylactide with hydroxyapatite, filled with spheroids from osteoblasts - bone tissue cells.

The peculiarity of the development consists in the joint use of two types of biocompatible materials and tissue spheroids, which ensure better engraftment of the implant, as well as an increase in the number of cells leading to tissue growth.

Anna Dianova, master's student of the iPhD program "Biomaterial Science" of MISIS University

The materials used to create the implant are not cytotoxic - they are not capable of toxic effects on cells, and samples with a filling density of 80% showed the best cell adhesion. As a result of morphometric assessment and research on the kinetics of spreading, spheroids with a concentration of 10,000 cells per spheroid were selected, - Anna Dianova noted in her study.

Work with tissue spheroids was carried out under the guidance of specialists of the partner company - 3D Bioprinting solutions.

The work was defended in the format "Project as a Diploma" and included all stages of full-fledged scientific and technical development. In the future, it is planned to bring the development to a commercial product. Specialists of the N. N. Priorov National Medical Research Center for Traumatology and Orthopedics of the Ministry of Health of Russia have already shown interest in the development. The next stages of the project will be the preparation of a patent and access to preclinical tests.