The team, led by Roger Hartl, MD, chief of spine surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and Larry Bonassar, associate professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering at Weill Cornell, have created the implant designed to replace intervertebral discs. The research has received a grant from Switzerland’s AOSpine foundation and NFL Charities.
The discs are engineered from collagen and alginate polymers, and the implants include cells that repopulate the structure with new tissue. Early research as shown that the implants are able to improve with time due to cell growth, as opposed to many of the current artificial disc implants which degrade over time. The implants have maintained 80-90 percent of the initial disc height thus far, according to Mr. Bonassar.
The scientists are currently examining the discs in small animals and are hoping to move to large animals soon.
Read the report on the biologic artificial disc for degenerative disc disease.
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