Development and assessment of calcium phosphate bone substitutes for orthopaedic applications

The rate can be altered by modifying HA:P-TCP ratio, scaffold surface area and porosity. In vitro dissolution experiments have the potential to provide a valuable method of predicting in vivo degradation.<br><br>The aim of this research was to identify optimal strategies for CaP scaffold manufacture, allowing the influence of HA:P-TCP content and architecture on dissolution to be investigated. Experimental methods were designed to assess the effect of pH and flow condition on scaffold dissolution, following which a rabbit model was adopted to assess in vivo efficacy over a 20 week period.

Scaffolds were produced which demonstrated desirable architectural properties including 392.2pm average diameter pores and 64.24% porosity. In vitro dissolution was shown to be more strongly influenced by architecture than HA:P-TCP composition. Suitability of scaffolds for bone tissue replacement applications was suggested by their tolerance and degradation in vivo.

Comparison of in vitro and in vivo data indicated laboratory-based experiments have potential in estimating degradation in vivo and further developments in this area could lead to a reduction in in vivo testing.