Patent ID: 7897165

Claim:
A method of integrating a hydrogel to the extracellular matrix of a bone, comprising the steps of: (a) priming the surface of a bone by treating the bone with a priming agent to create a primed bone, wherein the priming agent comprises a polysaccharide with at least one produced aldehyde group and a first at least one free radical polymerizable group wherein the aldehyde is produced by treating said polysaccharide with periodate, and the least one produced aldehyde group reacts with the extracellular matrix of the bone to covalently bind the extracellular matrix of the bone and the priming agent; (b) adding to the primed bone a polymerizable agent, wherein the polymerizable agent comprises a second at least one free radical polymerizable group; and (c) reacting the primed bone and the polymerizable agent by a radical reaction to create a hydrogel covalently bound to the bone; wherein the radical reaction is between the first and second free radical polymerizable groups, and the first and second free radical polymerizable groups are each independently selected from the group consisting of an acrylate, diacrylate, oligoacrylate, methacrylate, dimethacrylate, and oligo methacrylate.