Description:
Biodegradable 3-D piezoelectric scaffold for Repair of Osteochondral Defects
NJIT Case No. 16-029, 17-011 and 17-012
Inventors: Treena Arinzeh, Svetlana Duklesha-Schussler (16-029), Sheldon Lin (16-029), Ateka Khader (17-011 and 17-012)
Intellectual Property & Development status: US Patent Protection is pending.
NJIT is currently seeking commercial partners for the further development and commercialization of this opportunity.
Technology Brief:
Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology in the Department of Biomedical Engineering have fabricated a unique biodegradable 3-D piezoelectric scaffold for the repair of bone, cartilage and other related musculoskeletal tissues.
Osteoarthritis affects 27 million in the United States. It is a degenerative joint disease that usually affects the cartilage and underlying bone. Cartilage has limited ability to regenerate
and repair. The current clinical therapies are not able to regenerate cartilage. Tissue engineering promises the regeneration of damaged or diseased parts of the body by providing a scaffold on which cells can regrow. Ideally, scaffold materials should mimic the characteristics of native tissue as closely as possible. Cartilage and bone tissue have known piezoelectric properties, which means they can generate electrical activity in response to mechanical deformation. Piezoelectric materials and native tissues, such as bone, cartilage and tendon, transform mechanical deformation to electric fields, which can result in cellular stimulation. The invention is a biodegradable 3-D piezoelectric scaffold which generate electrical activity when mechanically deformed, that harness the body’s own natural movements to stimulate the repair of damaged tissue.
Advantages
• Mimics the characteristics of natural tissue
• Electrical stimulus without external source
• Enhances the repair process
Applications
• Osteoarthritis
• Osteochondral defects
• Other orthopedic applications
• Wound healing
Inventors Bio:
Treena Arinzeh, professor of biomedical engineering at NJIT, has earned national recognition for her commitment to making adult stem cell therapy a future reality. Her research interests are in stem cell tissue engineering and applied biomaterials, with a focus in the development of functional biomaterials that can accelerate repair utilizing stem cells and other cell types. She develops biomaterial strategies for the repair of bone, cartilage and other related musculoskeletal tissues. Her research interests also include nerve tissue regeneration, specifically spinal cord.
In fall 2004, President Bush awarded Arinzeh the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest national honor that a young researcher can receive. In 2003, the National Science Foundation also gave Arinzeh its highest honor--a Faculty Early Career Development award that included a $400,000 research grant. Arinzeh’s most cited work to date, in a paper in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, demonstrated that adult stem cells taken from one person could be implanted in another without being rejected. It was among the most significant findings in stem cell research in the past few years.