‘Biopen’ can allow surgeons drawing new bone in patients

A “biopen” containing stem cells and growth factors, to repair damaged and diseased bone, is being developed by Melbourne, Australia’s St. Vincent’s Hospital and the University of Wollongong.

It could be ready for trials in human patients within five years, New York Post reports.

The device works in a similar way to 3D printing methods to develop new tissue, combining cells mixed in a seaweed extract and coated in a protective gel.

Two layers of material combine in the head of the biopen as a surgeon uses it to “fill in” a damaged section of bone in a patient.

An ultraviolet light fixed to the device dries the mixture as it is dispensed, allowing it to be built up in layers, thus constructing a 3D scaffold of new bone.

The university’s Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Electromaterials Science has handed the invention over to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where Professor Peter Choong will continue developing the cell material for use in clinical trials.

It has already been demonstrated that the “ink” can regrow cartilage in animals, when used in a scaffold produced by a 3D printer.

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