Pictured l-r: Stacy Hutchens, Karen Genung, ORNL Director Jeff Wadsworth, Nano Nexus Managing Director Joy Fisher, Dan Miller (not pictured: Kimberly Williams)
Team: Apacell
Team Members: Stacy Hutchins, Karen Genung, Daniel Miller, Kimberly Williams
School: University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ken Kahn, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, Logistics, and Transportation
Product or Service: A bone grafting material with a nanoscale structure consisting of a hydrated gel pad and synthetic bone mineral. The bone substitute, named Apacell®, is intended to repair defects caused by surgery, trauma, tumors, disease, congenital deformities, implant revisions and infection. It can also be used to strengthen bone prior to dental and orthopedic implantation and as an appliance for spinal fusion procedures.
Most synthetic bone grafts used today are derived from human or animal tissue, which can elicit an immunogenic response. Self-donated done, known as autografts, are the most common bone graft, despite the painful operation required to take replacement bone. This operation increases the chance of infection and may cause significant post-operative pain. Apacell® provides off-the-shelf accessibility eliminating the risks and complications associated with autografts. Made from hypoallergenic materials, Apacell® is also devoid of the hazards associated with donated bone grafts, known as allografts, which can transmit disease, elicit an immunogenic response, and are costly due to extensive tissue processing and limited supply. Because Apacell® is readily available in a variety of sizes, surgeons can conduct shorter and less invasive surgeries, allowing patients quicker and less painful recoveries.
Apacell® is a biocompatible composite consisting of a three-dimensional hydrogel network comprised of pure cellulose fibrils. Crystallites of calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite (CdHAP), the same mineral found in bone, are dispersed within the cellulose hydrogel. The structure of Apacell® is inspired by natural bone. Natural bone consists of collagen nanofibrils coated with CdHAP nanocrystallites. Unlike existing bone grafts, Apacell® mimics this structure by using cellulose nanofibrils which naturally biomineralize like collagen to form nanoscale CdHAP crystals.
The Apacell® team plans to market its product to physicians who typically work with bone graft procedures and choose the materials to purchase. The three main groups of doctors the team feels will be most interested in Apacell® are craniofacial and maxillofacial surgeons, neurosurgeons who perform spinal fusions, and orthopedic surgeons who reconstruct bone during join implant revisions and repair severe fractions.
The Apacell® team recently participated in the Nano I2P® Competition at Nano Nexus 2007, a nanotechnology conference hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on April 3, 2007. The conference brought together universities, entrepreneurs, and leaders of the nanotechnology industry in an effort to move nanotechnology out of research organizations and into the marketplace.
”There is definite validation in being at this conference with so many other innovative teams,” said Stacy Hutchens, inventor of Apacell®, and a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee. “Of course I believe in our technology. It’s satisfying to be able to tell others that we’re addressing a real need, and that we can improve the quality of people’s lives.”