Engineered Cartilages Better than Natural Ones

Performing joint replacement surgeries may soon become much easier for surgeons, as researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, have demonstrated that they can build a type of artificial cartilage that is even more effective than those found in the human body. Thus far, engineered cartilages have been unsustainable on account of the fact that they couldn't be lubricated to the extent needed for their proper operation. Now, it would seem that this problem has been resolved by the Israeli team.

At this point, artificial joints are made from stainless steel, polished until all the imperfections on their surface are removed. However, on account of the fact that every step we make rubs the bones together, even the slightest of bulges on the steel can release debris particles in time, which affect the structure of the bone itself. Nature has overcome this problem by coating the end of each of our bones with soft and very slippery cartilages, able to withstand even the most strenuous of physical activities.

Until now, synthetic cartilages have performed well in scale models of bone joints, but researchers have not been able to create a small version of their materials that can be able to withstand the large strains the stuff is subjected to inside the human body. Working with colleagues in the United Kingdom, WIS researcher Jacob Klein has managed to create molecular brushes, tiny formations that are able to move over each other at friction coefficients similar to those observed in natural cartilages.

To some extent, the artificial versions are even better, in that they can withstand pressures of up to 7.5 megapascals, as opposed to their counterparts, which have only evolved to work properly at pressures lower than 5 megapascals. For the average humans, their cartilages are stronger than they would ever need, but these artificial ones could benefit people with severe injuries, who may need to place most of the weight that they have on a single leg, an occurrence the average body is not accustomed to.