JERUSALEM, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli biotechnology company Bonus BioGroup on Sunday reported success in bone joint fusion using a lab-made graft that grows from the patient's own adipose tissue cells.
The company said that this is the world's first viable bone graft for treating severe bone defects, intended to replace artificial grafts and reduce invasive procedures.
Joint fusion is used to treat inflammations, birth defects, and deformities, caused by disease, trauma, or aging, and manifested by significant pain and function impairment.
In a disclosure to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the company said that in the trials, success was achieved in fusing joints in the ankle and foot and in restoring limb function by completing missing bones using the size-personalized living grafts grown from the patient's cells.
The new method could replace common transplants in such cases, which involve surgery to harvest bone from another area of the patient's body and transplant it where fusion is required.
The company said using living lab-made graft, with the implant injected into the patient, may speed up the rehabilitation process and reduce need for an invasive and dangerous procedure.
The trial, conducted in several hospitals in Israel, resulted in stable joints without displacement, allowing walking in large shoes, without pain and the need for support.
The company even presented a rare case of a 74-year-old patient, in whom three joints were fused in one trial implanting procedure, successfully treating her severe bone deformities, walking difficulties, pain, and swelling. ■
