Challenging orthopaedic conditions including limb deformities, nonunion, and segmental bone defects are major causes of disability and dependency. These bone diseases bring huge detriment to patients and heavy burden to families and societies. Therefore, there is a burning need to develop an effective strategy to accelerate bone repair or regeneration. Besides mechanical support by metallic implant, autogenous or allogenic bone grafting was regarded as the traditional procedures for severe cases with significant bone defects. However, these procedures usually result in a decline in patient mobility and require multiple operations that are only effective in limited extent of bone defect reconstruction. Modern limb salvage techniques such as Ilizarov technique, with the principle of distraction osteogenesis (DO), represents a predictable and effective surgical technique to manage large bone defects for decades, showing advantages in shorter duration of hospitalization, lower cost, and without any graft implantation. Nevertheless, despite many achievements have been made, prolonged duration required for bone consolidation with an external fixator, and the occurrence of complications like nonunion and infections, which continue to be significant obstacles. A comprehensive understanding of the local and systemic responses to mechanical stress in regenerating tissues during DO procedures holds the potential for developing innovative treatment strategies to address delayed union or nonunion.

Our team is committed to studying the mechanism of DO in order to explore innovative approaches for enhancing bone repair and regeneration. Such insights may also pave the way for significant advances in promoting fracture healing, offering a potential breakthrough in the field of bone reconstruction.