I've heard there's a problem with shortage of bone for bone grafts. Can bone from animals be used in humans?
There are too many differences between human and animal bone. Bone from animals is more brittle. When it's ground up for use as graft material, the particle size isn’t the same as with human bone. A strong bone graft must be able to resist shear forces. Compacted bone is needed to do this. Compacted bone is formed when bone particles of different size and shape shift into place and interlock more tightly. The fat in animal bones is also different. Too much fat or fat that is too slippery weakens the bone graft. A new method of rinsing fat out of bone particles is being studied. Researchers in Scotland have shown that washing bone particles increases the graft strength.
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