New research has suggested that a ruthenium-based catalyst could help to develop a new way to treat injuries such as tendon and ligament damage.

A study carried out by Julien Gautrot and Julian Zhu at the University of Montreal in Canada has found that a chemical method may be able to make degradable elastomers by using bile acid.

This approach could be used to treat strained tendons and ligaments and a ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is used to bring about the entropy-driven ring opening metathesis polymerisation reaction which is required.

Julien Gautrot explained that the polymers' "mechanical properties give them the potential for use in building polymer scaffolds to support the regeneration of elastic body tissue like cartilage".

He told the Royal Society of Chemistry: "The fact that we can source this material from the body also means that as it degrades it only releases non-toxic substances that are already present in the body."


Ÿ Adfero Ltd