Durable replacement body parts a reality soon

London: Replacement body parts that never wear out could become a reality within a few years, scientists say.

Dodgy knees and hips will be repaired using tissue engineering, while donor heart valves from animals are being specially treated to last indefinitely.

Longer-lasting artificial joints are already being tested in a bid to ensure people will be able to enjoy another 50 active years.

Scientists at the University of Leeds Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering have launched a £50 million research initiative focussed on areas of the body most affected by ageing, including joints, spine, teeth, heart and circulation.

Unlike studies involving stem cells and growing ‘spare parts' in a lab, the programme uses the body's own regenerative systems.

The Leeds scientists have developed a chemical wash that strips cells away from donated cartilage, heart valves, blood vessels and other tissue before they are put into a human body.

Research shows they become repopulated with cells within about six months. Some 40 patients have already been treated with modified heart valves in a study in Brazil.

Professor John Fisher, director of the institute and one of the world's leading researchers into artificial joints, said research so far had shown the valves did not deteriorate and were not rejected by the body, because ‘foreign' donor cells had all been stripped away.

The unique method of removing living cells from human and animal tissue creates a biological ‘scaffold' that can be regenerated within the body, at the site which needs repairing. Worn-out ligaments and cartilage in knees can be replaced with a scaffold that will eventually attract cells to make the joint last longer.

Other areas targeted for treatment are the spine — where discs can be replaced — elbow and shoulder tissues and parts of the knee. Vascular patches are being devised that seal the holes made in arteries when surgeons clear a blockage. The technique is not suitable for whole organs, however.

Professor Fisher has also designed a ceramic-on-metal hip joint that reduces 10-fold the wear and tear on artificial joints.

As a result people should be able to get spare parts at an earlier age, when they are less disabled, and they could last up to 50 years, he said.