Poly(ethylene glycol)/chitosan/sodium glycerophosphate gel replaced the joint capsule with slow-release lubricant after joint surgery
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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Creation of a Knee Joint-on-a-Chip for Modeling Joint Diseases and Testing Drugs
Published on: January 27, 2023
Hailin Lu1, Shanshan Ren1, Xing Li1
1a Key Laboratory for Modern Design & Rotor-Bearing System, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering , Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an , P.R. China.
Abstract:
Body fluid is normally the only lubricant after joint replacement surgery, but wear problems have occurred because body fluid has poor lubrication ability. However, traditional lubricant would be diluted by body fluids and then absorbed by the human body. Therefore, an injectable gel with the ability to slow-release lubricant was designed to replace the joint capsule. The proposed gel, poly(ethylene glycol)/chitosan/sodium glycerophosphate (PEG/CS/GP) composite gel was then tested. The tribology results showed that the PEG/CS/GP gel had excellent slow-release properties, especially under pressure, and the PEG played an important role in improving the gel's rheological and mechanical properties. Moreover, this study revealed that the release solution had a good lubrication effect because the PEG and GP could crosslink via the hydrogen bond effect.
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