The Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) is involved in interdisciplinary research into bone glue that could, in the future, facilitate the treatment of comminuted and other complicated fractures. The material is being developed by scientists at CEITEC BUT in collaboration with surgeons from University Hospital Brno and Masaryk University Faculty of Medicine. Our Institute is currently testing its properties in the living organism.
Veterinary Expertise Helps Bring Research into Practice
VRI brings its professional expertise and technical facilities to the collaboration for preclinical testing using a sheep model. The surgical procedures are performed by surgeons from University Hospital Brno, led by Milan Krtička. Follow-up monitoring will help assess how the treated bones heal. Experts from Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) are also involved in the evaluation, measuring the biomechanical properties of the fused bones.
Veterinary care during both the surgical procedures and the follow-up period is an integral part of our team's work. As Edita Jeklová, a veterinarian at the VRI, explained in a Czech Radio report, the procedures are performed under general anaesthesia with continuous monitoring of vital signs. After the surgery, the animals remain in the experimental housing facilities under the supervision of veterinarians and scientists.
Joining Bone Fragments and Supporting Healing
The glue being developed combines an adhesive gel with bioceramic powder. The resulting material is designed to join bone fragments while its porous structure also allows new bone tissue to grow through it. The material is designed to be gradually resorbed by the body. Another advantage is that it can be applied using a syringe, which could potentially enable less invasive surgical procedures in the future. The adhesive could be particularly useful for securing small bone fragments that are difficult to stabilize with screws.
However, before the material can be used in patients, further research and testing are still needed. The current preclinical phase is intended to provide the basis for determining the next steps; clinical trials are still to come. The involvement of VRI in this research demonstrates how collaboration among materials scientists, surgeons, and veterinary experts can contribute to the development of new treatment methods.
The research and the involvement of our Institute were presented by Czech Radio on 22 September 2026 in a report published on the iROZHLAS.cz website, which describes the experimental procedure and explains the principle behind the new material.
