Advances in artificial nucleus pulposus material

Degenerative disc disease is very common in clinical practice, and 40% of low back pain is caused by lumbar disc degeneration. Clinical surgery can relieve symptoms in short term, but cannot achieve the purpose of cure. In discectomy surgery, to maintain a sufficient height of disc, the artificial nucleus pulposus materials such as silicone rubber, stainless steel, and hydrogel material are used to fill the defect of nucleus pulposus. With the continuous development of tissue engineering and materials science, it is possible to use stem cells or multipotent cells to cure disc disease or reverse the degenerative process and reshape the physiological function of the intervertebral disc. Now, the problem that still has to be faced in tissue engineering is how to find an extracellular scaffold which has similar structure and function of the nucleus pulposus to provide a suitable environment for the growth and physiological activity of seed cells. The article reviews the history of the development of artificial nucleus material and the current research situation.