Currently available commercial bone cements are based on polymethyl methacrylates and have several disadvantages including toxicity, lack of bioactivity, volumetric shrinkage, tissue necrosis, and the generation of heat upon polymerization. Due to these high temperatures produced during polymerization, antibiotic treatment with bone cement is very limited. Only tobramycin, gentamycin and vancomycin are heat-stable and can survive the high temperatures during the polymerization of PMMA’s.

Our chemically initiated cement is composed primarily of a monomer that has already proven very effective in commercial dental composites. Our extensive testing of this new cement has found that this system is biocompatible, has a peak exotherm that is below 45 degrees C, low shrinkage, and excellent mechanical properties. This system provides a biocompatible alternative to PMMA-based bone cements while maintaining good mechanical properties.

File Number: 11UMK005 

Web site: http://www.umkc.edu/ors/tt

Disease: Musculoskeletal Disorders

Other Information: Please contact the University of Missouri-Kansas City Office of Technology Transfer for more information regarding this technology.