Roo tendons may help injured athletes

Sydney: Tendons from Australia’s iconic kangaroos are being tested for use in human knee, ankle and shoulder ligament replacement surgery, with some of the country’s injuryprone athletes seen as the first few major beneficiaries of the novel treatment, according to a latest research.

The unprecedented study has “early proof of concept testing” that kangaroo tendon is “six times stronger than human cruciate ligament”, the University of Sydney said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Kangaroo tendon has a similar composition to humans but is longer and has better mechanical properties, which makes it an exciting natural product that could be used in a range of surgical procedures,” said orthopedic surgeon Nick Hartnell, who heads one of the three industry partners working with the university on the project.

The project includes an investment of A$2.4mil (RM7.1mil) by the industry partners, with the tendons for the medical graft material salvaged from the kangaroo meat industry and annual culling of the animals.

Another element of the project includes testing and manufacturing the viability of 3Dprinted biodegradable screws made from a ceramic material to fix the kangaroo tendon to human bone, said the university.

The next few steps will include making the tendons safe and effective for transplantation in humans, said the researchers.