Cuttlefish bone has been used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine but its applications in bone tissue engineering and other more modern areas of medical technology remain unknown. Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) scientists in Lithuania have been researching possible uses of this calcium carbonate-rich material.

Ex vivo research demonstrated that cuttlebone usage in bone tissue engineering is highly compatible with human organisms, and that human bone cells are inclined to attach themselves and to grow bone tissue on the surface of the scaffold. Cellulose-based scaffolds for oral surgery application were designed with cuttlebone filling and calcium alginate capsules for small-sized bone defects. The biodegradable materials integrate with human tissues during new bone formation and healing processes.

Gel-based pharmaceutical cuttlebone products were also developed for the treatment of superficial wounds, and as suppositories for treatment of hemorrhoids.

The risks of inducing allergies, hypersensitivity and other side effects with these products were minimized by removing traces of the protein tropomyosin found in cuttlefish muscle tissue with new techniques devised at KTU. The resulting material contained no traces of biologically unfavorable heavy metals in dorsal or lamellar parts of cuttlebone.

Scientists from V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine), Charles University (Czech Republic) and Izmir Institute of Technology (Turkey) also contributed to this research.