It is hardly bigger than a pinhead. However, thanks to this implant, people suffering fromosteoporosis might well protect their fragile bones within two to three years. For the time being, it is still only a prototype tested only on rats suffering from osteoporosis. But the results leave researchers from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom wondering.
Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by bone fragility and an increased risk of fractures. In France, 39% of women around 65 suffer from osteoporosis, and 70% of women aged 80 and over, according to Inserm.
Implanted in the leg muscles of rodents, the latest British discovery consists of a device connected by wires themselves linked to a mini battery in the stomach. It works by contracting the muscles connected to weakened bones, by light electrical stimulation. These are painless and do not cause any discomfort since they only last a thousandth of a second. For the experiment, the scientists scanned each rat’s left leg bone with the device to compare it to the non-electrically stimulated right leg. Verdict: after one month, the bone density of the leg affected by the implant has increased by 30%.
The mechanism that associates muscle contraction and bone strength remains unclear. But this treatment, if it passes further tests, may well prove to be more interesting than certain drugs that strengthen weakened bones associated with certain side effects (nausea, chest pain and inflammation of the stomach).
The findings have appeared in the scholarly journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
