About the Authors

Daisuke Takeda

Affiliation Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Takumi Hasegawa

hasetaku@med.kobe-u.ac.jp

Affiliation Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Takeshi Ueha

Affiliation NeoChemir, Kobe, Japan

Yusuke Imai

Affiliation Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Akiko Sakakibara

Affiliation Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Masaya Minoda

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Teruya Kawamoto

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Tsutomu Minamikawa

Affiliation Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Yasuyuki Shibuya

Affiliation Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Toshihiro Akisue

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Yoshitada Sakai

Affiliation Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Masahiro Kurosaka

Affiliation Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Takahide Komori

Affiliation Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Competing Interests

TU is a full-time employee of NeoChemir. The hydrogel was a gift from NeoChemir, Kobe, Japan. The international patent publication number is WO2004/002393 (publication date 8 January 2004). This did not compromise this authors' adherence to all journal policies concerning sharing data and materials, and we declare that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: DT TU TH. Performed the experiments: DT TU TH YI. Analyzed the data: DT TU TH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TU. Wrote the paper: DT TU TH. Advised on experimental techniques: AS MM. Proofread the paper: T. Kawamoto TA. Supervised all aspects of this study: TM Y. Shibuya Y. Sakai MK T. Komori.