Arthritis is a very painful condition. The operation to treat it is not much better. Anybody who has had a knee, shoulder or hip joint replaced knows that artificial metal or plastic joints also can be painful and limit movement. But coming up with a better alternative for eroded cartilage – a substitute that’s both load-bearing and cushioning at the same time – has been a challenge.
Farshid Guilak, professor of mechanical engineering and orthopedic surgery at Duke University in North Carolina, is part of a team working to create a strong yet softer, more supple replacement for worn away cartilage. He foresees that implanting this synthetic cartilage would be a much less radical operation than current joint surgery.
“So, just basically replacing the part that is worn out, not cutting out both sides of the joint and putting a lot of metal in there,” said Guilak.
At the heart of the synthetic cartilage is an innovative fabric scaffold, which Guilak and colleagues at Duke developed in collaboration with researchers at Harvard University in Massachusetts. The novel material is made of seven layers of miniscule interwoven fibers, each about as thick as a human hair. A water-based gel is infused into the scaffolding, making it strong, flexible and lubricated.