December 13, 2013

Duke Engineers Make Strides Toward Artificial Cartilage


Composite material closest yet to properties of the real thing

A Duke research team has developed a better recipe for synthetic replacement cartilage in joints.

Combining two innovative technologies they each helped develop, lead authors Farshid Guilak, a professor of orthopedic surgery and biomedical engineering, and Xuanhe Zhao, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, found a way to create artificial replacement tissue that mimics both the strength and suppleness of native cartilage. Their results appear Dec. 17 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.