Bone defects, which arise from various causes such as trauma, infection, and congenital abnormalities, are becoming increasingly common in aging societies. Conventional treatments often involve bone grafts combined with serum or bioadhesives to fill the defect.

However, existing injectable hydrogels face challenges such as difficulty in maintaining their shape within the body and limited adhesive strength. Moreover, traditional methods using bone grafts with adhesive materials often fail to achieve simultaneous “bone regeneration” and “adhesion.”

The POSTECH team has introduced a novel system that addresses these limitations. This new hydrogel system employs visible light—safe for the human body—to facilitate cross-linking, where the main components of the hydrogel bond and harden, and to simultaneously boost mineralization where bone-building minerals like calcium and phosphate form within the hydrogel.