I’m still working on my own device. I’m not sure if the device listed here is stimulatory enough to induce longitudinal bone growth. The device may be useful if you have existing growth plates. But to grow taller you’d need bone breakdown to occur faster than bone buildup{so that cartilage has room to grow} and the device is optimized for bone buildup.
Development of an Artificial Finger-Like Knee Loading Device to Promote Bone Health.
“This study presents the development of an innovative artificial finger-like device that provides position specific mechanical loads at the end of the long bone and induces mechanotransduction in bone{So you could theoretically use your own fingers to see what such an a device would do; use your own fingers to press on the epiphysis of bone}. Bone cells such as osteoblasts are the mechanosensitive cells that regulate bone remodeling{in order to induce height growth you’d need a lot more than bone remodeling, you need to degrade cortical bone and induce MSC differentiation into chondrogenic cells}. When they receive gentle, periodic mechanical loads, new bone formation is promoted{how this bone formation is promoted is of importance of whether such a method can induce height growth}. The proposed device is an under-actuated multi-fingered artificial hand with 4 fingers, each having two phalanges. These fingers are connected by mechanical linkages and operated by a worm gearing mechanism. With the help of 3D printing technology, a prototype device was built mostly using plastic materials. The experimental validation results show that the device is capable of generating necessary forces at the desired frequencies, which are suitable for the stimulation of bone cells and the promotion of bone formation. It is recommended that the device be tested in a clinical study for confirming its safety and efficacy with patients.”
Cortical bone is highly inhibitory towards longitudinal bone growth. You need to generate sufficient fluid flow to induce degradation of the cortical bone or you likely will not be able to grow taller. I think it would take a lot of fluid flow for that to happen. Maybe with very high frequency and duration with this device it would be possible.
” if a small magnitude of mechanical stimuli is applied at a high frequency, an osteogenic response can be stimulated via mechanotransduction in bone cells.”<-we don’t care about stimulating bone cells EXCEPT for osteoclasts. We need to simulate stem cells to differentiate into chondrocytes.
“Osteocytes are the most abundant type of cells in bone tissue, and they constitute more than 90% of the cells in bone matrix. They are rooted in the calcified bone medium, and communicate with each other and with bone-forming osteoblasts through slender processes and gap junctions. Osteocytes are highly mechanosensitive. Haversian system or osteon, one of the key components of a porous bone matrix, encloses a blood vessel in its center and sets up the canals known as Haversian canals or Volkmann’s canals. Osteogenesis is induced by the process of osteoinduction in which premature cells are recruited, stimulated and developed into pre-osteoblasts{we just need to induce a microenvironment where premature cells are induced into pre-chondrocytes instead and one way to do that is via a high hydrostatic pressure environment which could be induced by manipulating fluid flow}. Osteogenesis can also result from osteoconduction which is the passive process of bone growth on surfaces such as bone-implant surfaces”
“When rapid mechanical loading is applied at the end of long bone (e.g., knee), it is proposed that the interstitial fluid present around the osteocytes in the lacuna-canalicular network induces a pressure gradient and elevates nutrient transport throughout the porous network. “<-interstitial fluid flow could do more than this. If you have a lot of fluid flow it could induce shear that degrades the cortical bone that prevents longitudinal bone growth.
