Regenerative Medicine Strategies in Biomedical Implants

Abstract

Purpose of review: Recently, significant progress has been made in the research related to regenerative medicine. At the same time, biomedical implants in orthopedics and dentistry are facing many challenges and posing clinical concerns. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the clinical applications of current regenerative strategies to the fields of dentistry and orthopedic surgery. The main research question in this review is: What are the major advancement strategies in regenerative medicine that can be used for implant research?

Recent findings: The implant surfaces can be modified through patient-specific stem cells and plasma coatings, which may provide methods to improve osseointegration and sustainability of the implant. Overall understanding from the review suggesting that the outcome from the studies could lead to identify optimum solutions for many concerns in biomedical implants and even in drug developments as a long-term solution to orthopedic and dental patients.

Keywords: Biomedical implants; Regenerative medicine; Stem cells; Surface modifications.

Figure 1

The mesengenic process was first envisioned in the late 1980s as a pathway for marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to differentiate into a number of mesodermal cell types that could contribute to the fabrication of bone, cartilage, and muscle. It is now clear that MSCs can be isolated from many tissues because they are derived from perivascular cells and pericytes [45]. Used with permission from Elsevier.

Figure 2

Schematic diagram represents different regenerative medicine strategies with potential applications in the biomedical implant field.

Figure 3

a) Schematic representation of the bio-implant procedure. The main purpose of this study is periodontium regeneration around the implant fixture. (b) A combination of cell sheets used in this study. Various types of cell sheets (panel a) are described. (c) Maxillary first molar and HA-coated dental implant fixture. (d) Micro CT image of 8 weeks after transplantation of the HA-coated fixture shows the alveolar bone compactly healed around the fixture. (e) 3D reconstruction of the micro CT results at 8 weeks after transplantation of the HA-coated fixture. (f) HE-stained image at 8 weeks after transplantation of the HA-coated fixture showing osseointegration between the alveolar bone and the fixture. Black dashed line shows the margin of the removed implant fixture. (g) RT-PCR results of immortalized human cells (cropped gel image). The ihCEMs expressed ALP, BSP and CEMP-1 [71].