| abstract |
Bone defects after trauma, tumor resection, etc. still present a major clcal problem. Current treatment with bone grafts, bone-inducing substances, Ilizarov techniques, artificial prosthetic replacements, or bone transplants are only partially satisfying. Bioresorbable shell structures for treatment of bone defects are disclosed. The shells are anatomically shaped and serve as containers or bone grafts or bone precursors as well as temporary structural supports. The shells are preferably porous allowing for nutritional support of the graft and limit the thickness of the graft to no more than a few millimeters. Thus nutrients and metabolic by-products transport by diffusion alone is sufficient to maintain grafted metabolism in the critical phase before revascularization takes place. |