Key points from article :
Regrowing or replacing bone lost to disease is tricky and often painful.
Researchers found a faster and simpler way to induce mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to turn into bone cells.
MSCs can be obtained from other parts of the patient’s body, such as fat tissue, which is less invasive.
Used a microchip that produced high frequency sound waves, and directed it at MSCs on a culture plate.
10-MHz signals for 10 minutes a day for five days boosted certain markers, indicating that MSCs were converting into bone cells.
“Our device is cheap and simple to use, so could be upscaled for large numbers of cells simultaneously,” - Leslie Yeo, co-lead researcher.
They can be injected at the site of an injury or disease, or coated onto an implant, ready to grow new bone.
Eliminates the need for drugs that coax stem cells, and makes the process much faster and more efficient.
Team plans to continue investigating how to scale up the platform for practical use.
Study by RMIT published in the journal Small.
