Researchers Develop New Treatment for Bone Infection

Dec, 2020 - By SMI

Researchers developed a novel treatment for bone infection using copper-rich glass implant.

The new treatment, particularly for osteomyelitis, was developed by researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. This treatment helps in killing bacteria and promotes bone growth without using antibiotics. Researchers achieved this by combining copper particles with bioactive glass, which is used for bone repair, and this was integrated into an implant designed specifically for bone repair.

The copper-doped bioactive glass in the porous scaffold implant attracts blood vessels and bone cells, which accelerates bone repair. Bacteria growth is prevented by the copper ions present in the implant. One of the major advantages of this treatment over existing treatment options is that a single implant is capable of improving blood flow, thereby enhancing bone healing. Also, it inhibits infection without antibiotic treatment. This particular bone infection can be caused from broken bones, severe tooth decay, and deep puncture wounds, among other causes. Worst cases of osteomyelitis might result in amputations or be fatal.

Fergal O'Brien, Professor of Bioengineering & Regenerative Medicine in the RCSI Department of Anatomy, Head of the Tissue Engineering Research Group, and Deputy Director of the AMBER Research Centre said, “We are looking forward to developing and testing this treatment for osteomyelitis and for other infections too. This platform system could be further modified and used to deliver a variety of other non-antibiotic antimicrobial metal ion-doped minerals.”