|
IISc’s Biomaterials & Tissue Eng Lab gets Rs. 50 lakh DST fund for developing bio-degradable polymer
|
|
Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
August 27 , 2016
|
|
|
Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) department of materials engineering
which houses the Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering Laboratory has
developed a bio-degradable polymer infused with nano-particles which is
getting ready for animal studies. The polymer embedded with graphene and
metallic silver has proven to be non-toxic, eradicating bacterial
growth and could be safe to be absorbed in the body.
The three and half years research initiative which concludes by the year-end, received Rs.
50 lakh grant from department of Science & Technology. The
biocompatible scaffold with mechanical properties that duplicates a bone
structure will be put before the IISc’s Ethics Committee for animal
study clearance in a few months.
The development of the
bio-degradable polymer was conducted by a team of four scientists: Dr
Sachin Kumar, Shammy Raj, Shubham Jain and Dr. Kaushik Chatterjee.
In
fact, this study is a part of a thesis in biomaterials & tissue
engineering for Dr. Sachin Kumar who is the lead author of the
presentation paper titled ‘Multifunctional biodegradable polymer
nano-composite incorporating graphene-silver hybrid for biomedical
applications’ published in the Materials & Design Journal 2016.
As
per our research evaluation so far, the bio-degradable polymer has
proven to have excellent cyto-compatible properties to hasten the
process when substituted for bone graft, Dr. Chatterjee assistant
professor, department of materials engineering and principal
investigator of the programme told Pharmabiz.
Materials suitable
for implant applications are in two categories. One is the conventional
hip joint and dental implant made of metal and prone to inflammation.
The other is an emerging concept where bio-degradable materials are
proving to be viable and safer alternatives as cells are seen to
re-generate over these materials to eventually regenerate the tissue,
Dr. Chatterjee told Pharmabiz.
“We prepared a sheet using
graphene and embedded with islands of silver. Now silver is an
anti-bacterial and we came across multiple positive effects when the
hybrid material was incorporated. The combination of graphene and silver
demonstrated to be strong and safe to replace bone graft as it was not
toxic to human cells, he added.
Most orthopaedic specialists opt
for either autografts or allograft from cadaver and the success rate of
these procedures are still a challenge. This led our scientists to look
at viable substitutes for bone graft with biomaterials and tissue
engineering which could heal bone fractures faster, explained Dr.
Kaushik.
Globally, considerable interest is evinced in a new
class of therapy using biomaterial and tissue engineering. Some of the
research is in the proof of concept phase requiring both funding and
regulatory consents for clinical trials. In India, biomaterials
engineering is in its infancy. With regards to our polymer, we need to
closely monitor the healthy tissue growth. However at lab-bench scale
model, we see it as a boon for patients, said Dr. Kaushik.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOPICS
|
That foods might provide therapeutic benefits is clearly not a new concept. ...
|
|
|
|
|