Active osseointegration in an ex vivo porcine bone model

Thomas A G Hall; Konstantinos Theodoridis; Nupur Kohli; Frederic Cegla; Richard J van Arkel

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2024.1360669

Active osseointegration in an ex vivo porcine bone model

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 22:12:1360669. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1360669. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Thomas A G Hall¹, Konstantinos Theodoridis¹, Nupur Kohli¹, Frederic Cegla², Richard J van Arkel¹

Affiliations

¹ Biomechanics Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
² Non-Destructive Evaluation Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Achieving osseointegration is a fundamental requirement for many orthopaedic, oral, and craniofacial implants. Osseointegration typically takes three to 6 months, during which time implants are at risk of loosening. The aim of this study was to investigate whether osseointegration could be actively enhanced by delivering controllable electromechanical stimuli to the periprosthetic bone. First, the osteoconductivity of the implant surface was confirmed using an in vitro culture with murine preosteoblasts. The effects of active treatment on osseointegration were then investigated in a 21-day ex vivo model with freshly harvested cancellous bone cylinders (n = 24; Ø10 mm × 5 mm) from distal porcine femora, with comparisons to specimens treated by a distant ultrasound source and static controls. Cell viability, proliferation and distribution was evident throughout culture. Superior ongrowth of tissue onto the titanium discs during culture was observed in the actively stimulated specimens, with evidence of ten-times increased mineralisation after 7 and 14 days of culture (p < 0.05) and 2.5 times increased expression of osteopontin (p < 0.005), an adhesive protein, at 21 days. Moreover, histological analyses revealed increased bone remodelling at the implant-bone interface in the actively stimulated specimens compared to the passive controls. Active osseointegration is an exciting new approach for accelerating bone growth into and around implants.

Keywords: bioelectronics; bioreactor; mechanobiology; osseointegration; osteogenesis.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research project and the innovation presented was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of UK Research and Innovation (EP/S022546/1 and EP/R513052/1). The additive manufacturing and micro-CT facility was also funded by EPSRC (EP/R042721/1). This research used the widefield microscope equipment of the Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy (FILM) at Imperial College London, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust (104931/Z/14/Z) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of UK Research and Innovation (BB/L015129/1).