Chinese scientists develop bone glue to fix fractures within three minutes: Report

Chinese scientists have claimed to have developed a medical 'bone glue' which can treat fractured and shattered bone fragments within three minutes, local media Zhejiang Online reported.

The need for a bone adhesive to treat such injuries has been long considered, but the Chinese researchers might have cracked the code.

The product, dubbed as 'Bone 02' bone glue has been unveiled by a research team in East China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday, according to a Global Times report.


Lin Xianfeng, the leader and associate chief orthopaedic surgeon at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, told local media that the insipration to develop the product came from observing oysters clinging firmly to a bridge underwater.

According to Lin, the adhesive can fix the injury within two or three minutes, even in a blood-rich environment. He said that the glue can be naturally absorbed by the body as the bone heals and there is no need of a surgery to remove it.

According to the Global Times report, the bone glue had tested positively on both safety and effectiveness metrics. The procedure in one of the trials was completed within 180 seconds or three minutes. According to the local media, it has been tested on over 150 patients.

The scientists told local media that the glued bones showed a maximum bonding force of over 400 pounds, a shear strength of about 0.5 MPa, and a compressive strength of around 10 MPa, which suggests that the product may have the potential to replace traditional metal implants. It could also reduce the risks of reaction and infection.

Currently, the medical world depends on several bone cements and bone void fillers fix fractures, but none claim to have any adhesive properties.

The first bone adhesives were developed in the 1940s and were based on gelatine, epoxy resins, and acrylates. However, they were not appropriate and were discarded because of biocompatability issues.