Critical bone defects, non-unions, and delayed bone healing remain major challenges in orthopedic and trauma surgery and often require bone grafting. While a patient's own bone (autograft) is considered the gold standard, its use is limited by donor-site morbidity and limited availability. Synthetic bone substitutes offer an alternative but mainly provide structural support and lack biological activity. This prospective multicenter pilot study evaluates the safety and feasibility of using the Boneflo® Tissue Collector System to biologically activate bone substitutes during surgery. The device collects the patient's own tissue, blood, and biologically active factors directly from the surgical site using a vacuum-assisted suction system with an integrated filter. This material is then used intraoperatively to coat and bioactivate bone substitute materials. In healing attempts, 50 patients with critical bone defects, non-unions, or impaired bone healing were treated across four centers. Various bone substitutes, including synthetic calcium phosphate materials, collagen-based scaffolds, and allografts, were used. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate device safety, intraoperative usability, handling, and applicability for coating and activating bone substitutes. The device was evaluated by orthopedic surgeons and other medical professionals, including nurses, physician assistants, and technical assistants. Furthermore, these data were supplemented with clinical outcome data from healing attempts, including wound healing and radiographic bone regeneration, assessed over a minimum six-month follow-up period.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
100
During surgery, autologous tissue, blood, and biologically active components are collected from the surgical site under vacuum conditions with an integrated filter system using the BoneFlo tissue collector. The collected autologous material is used to coat and biologically enhance bone substitutes. Bone substitutes include calcium phosphate ceramics, collagen-based scaffolds, and allografts. This intervention is performed intraoperatively and aims to improve the biological activity of otherwise mainly osteoconductive materials.
St. Marien-Hospital Mülheim an der Ruhr
Mülheim, Germany
Incidence of device-related adverse events (% of participants)
Assessment of safety of the surgical suction device used for intraoperative bioactivation of bone substitutes, measured by the number and proportion of participants experiencing device-related adverse events, as recorded in clinical evaluation and adverse event reporting.
Time frame: Up to 30 days postoperatively
Surgeon-reported usability score (Likert scale)
Assessment of device applicability and handling using a standardized surgeon questionnaire with a Likert scale rating immediately after use.
Time frame: Immediately after the procedure
Rate of successful intraoperative bioactivation procedures
Assessment of intraoperative feasibility based on successful completion of the procedure as judged by the operating surgeon. The unit of measure is the percentage of procedures (% of procedures).
Time frame: Intraoperatively (during the index surgical procedure)
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