Ultra-Sound Rocked Cells Become Cartilage

Could stem cells, rocked by sound waves, be the key to creating cartilage to repair damaged knees? That is a possibility according to a team at the University of Southampton, UK, led by Peter Glynne-Jones.

According to wrier Sandrine Ceurstemont for New Scientist, the team sent ultrasound waves rocking inside a fluid-filled bioreactor holding cells taken from the top of the femur. They found that the cells accumulated in the modes of the wave, lined up in a layer and then bonded together. After 21 days the cells had become tiny sheets of cartilage with strength similar to that of natural cartilage.

When Glynne-Jones wanted to test his theory of a new way to create artificial tissues using just the patient’s own cells he selected cartilage as an ideal starting material. Cartilage has a relatively simple structure that is made up of a single cell type. He decided to use sound waves because, he thought, the variations in pressure could control where the cells would end up.

“What’s exciting is that we mechanically tested the cartilage and it’s comparable to cartilage found in the human body, ” said Glynne-Jones. “We think that ultrasound is playing a key part in stimulating the cells to produce the better cartilage.”

Biomedical engineer Julian Chaudhuri at the University of Bradford, UK. said, “The method removes the challenge of synthesizing biomaterial scaffolds. It’s an easy, non-intrusive method that has much clinical potential.”

Ceurstemont reports that the researchers have, so far, only produced small patches of cartilage but are planning to scale up their approach.