Dorota Kołbuk-Konieczny, PhD from Laboratory of Polymers and Biomaterials was the laureate of the call Lider program granted by National Centre for Research and Development The project name: Development of bioactive, hybrid graft for regeneration of ACL ligaments, LIGAMED was carried from April 2016 to March 2019.
Health and mental benefits of sports activities cannot be overestimated. Depending on the age and capabilities: running, crossfit, football, skiing, squash and other are practiced, even if the only reason is to be fashionable. However, every year thousands of children under 15 years old and young woman in their 40’s have problems with knee ligament rapture. It is hard to imagine how painful physically it can be. Current treatment of knee injuries is not as effective, as it could be, of course. Percentage of full recovery is relatively low and consequences of re-rapture are painful and expensive for the patient and health insurance system, respectively. The aim of material science engineers, biologists and physicians is to help people with knee ligament injury.
The project involves development of biodegradable scaffold for regeneration of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Using the knowledge of the materials science, mechanics, biology and medicine, hybrid scaffold will be developed. It will be characterized by the architecture, structure, chemical and mechanical properties biomimetic to allograft. In the long term, the innovative scaffold would allow ligament regeneration and re-modelling in place of scaffold fixation.
Ligament damages can be divided into three categories. Each group requires a different method of treatment. In case of III group of injuries- complete rupture of ligament, treatment consisting in grafts reconstruction is required. None of them is perfect. Four types of grafts are currently used for this type of treatment:
- autograph (graft derived from the patient's own tissues)- gold standard,
- allograph (graft derived from a donor),
- xenograph (graft derived from an animal donor),
- artificial implants or scaffold (tissue engineering techniques).
