Swell gel could bring relief to back pain sufferers
March 2007Professor Tony Freemont from the Division of Regenerative Medicine and Dr Brian Saunders from the School of Materials in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences have developed a ‘microgel’ that swells and stiffens when injected into a damaged area of the spine; and could provide an alternative to major surgery for the treatment of lower back pain.
Degeneration of intervertebral discs causes holes in their load-bearing tissue, decreasing the discs’ height and resulting in chronic pain for the patient. But in animals the discs have been found to regain their mechanical properties when injected with the team’s microgel.
The material is initially a fluid with a low acidity level or pH value, but changes to a stiff gel when injected into the body as its pH value changes and its sponge-like particles absorb water.
“This research was motivated by the urgent need for a non-surgical method of repairing intervertebral discs,” Professor Freemont said. “Our approach has the advantage of restoring spinal mobility, where the current surgical intervention ‘spinal fusion’ results in a significant loss of mobility at the fused and adjacent discs.”
“Although we are encouraged by our findings, much work lies ahead to develop a viable non-surgical repair technology to replace spinal fusion as the standard surgical treatment for chronic lower back pain,” Dr Saunders added.
The team recently reported its findings in the online journal Soft Matter, and hopes to secure extra funding to enable clinical trials. Future work will also investigate biodegradable microgels, which release additives to stimulate the regeneration of intervertebral disc tissue.
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