Printable hydrogel developed for knee replacements

Researchers have developed a new printable material that can mimic the qualities of cartilage for use in knee replacement surgery.

The hydrogel-based material, created by a Duke University team, is the first substance of its kind to match human cartilage in terms of strength and elasticity, while also remaining 3D-printable and stable inside the body.

Current gels lack strength and struggle to retain their shape due to their water-based nature, but this new material mixes together two different types, one of which is stiffer and stronger, while the other is softer and stretchier.

The resulting double-network hydrogel is blended with a nanoparticle clay to ensure it can flow like a liquid when placed under shear stress, before hardening into a printed shape when the stress is removed.

This substance could now be used to create custom-shaped knee implants, hip replacements, cranial plates and even spinal vertebrae for various surgical purposes.

Study author Benjamin Wiley, an associate professor of chemistry at Duke University, said: "I hope that demonstrating the ease with which this can be done will help get a lot of other people interested in making more realistic printable hydrogels with mechanical properties that are even closer to human tissue."

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