Scientists find human bone substitute in treated wood

Italian scientists have come the closest yet to replicating human bone with a process that uses natural wood.

Scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics in Faenza, Italy found that when they cut rattan wood into pieces, heat it, add carbon and calcium, add more heat and add a phosphate solution, the rattan pieces transform after 10 days into material strong and durable enough to function as an inexpensive bone substitute.

Led by Anna Tampieri, the researchers have already implanted the hydroxyapatite "bone" into a herd of sheep, and say that after a few months, the artificial bone will fuse with the real bone.

Why rattan? Its structure and porous nature -- which allows blood vessels, nerves and other compounds to travel through it -- are favorable, the scientists said. Current substitutes -- metal, ceramic, or reused real bones from cadavers -- can be weak and difficult to fuse with natural bone.

Doctors at nearby Bologna University hospital said they have observed particles from the sheep's natural bone migrating to the artificial bone, with no apparent signs of infection or rejection.

The scientists say human trials of the wood bone could occur in five years. The program is funded by the European Union.

[via BBC]

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com