Calcium phosphate based three-dimensional cold plotted bone scaffolds for critical size bone defects.

Bone substitutes, like calcium phosphate, are implemented more frequently in orthopaedic surgery to reconstruct critical size defects, since autograft often results in donor site morbidity and allograft can transmit diseases. A novel bone cement, based on ß-tricalcium phosphate, polyethylene glycol, and trisodium citrate, was developed to allow the rapid manufacturing of scaffolds, by extrusion freeform fabrication, at room temperature. The cement composition exhibits good resorption properties and serves as a basis for customised (e.g., drug or growth factor loaded) scaffolds for critical size bone defects. In vitro toxicity tests confirmed proliferation and differentiation of ATDC5 cells in scaffold-conditioned culture medium. Implantation of scaffolds in the iliac wing of sheep showed bone remodelling throughout the defects, outperforming the empty defects on both mineral volume and density present in the defect after 12 weeks. Both scaffolds outperformed the autograft filled defects on mineral density, while the mineral volume present in the scaffold treated defects was at least equal to the mineral volume present in the autograft treated defects. We conclude that the formulated bone cement composition is suitable for scaffold production at room temperature and that the established scaffold material can serve as a basis for future bone substitutes to enhance de novo bone formation in critical size defects.

Threshold intensity factors as lower boundaries for crack propagation in ceramics.

BACKGROUND: Slow crack growth can be described in a v (crack velocity) versus KI (stress intensity factor) diagram. Slow crack growth in ceramics is attributed to corrosion assisted stress at the crack tip or at any pre-existing defect in the ceramic. The combined effect of high stresses at the crack tip and the presence of water or body fluid molecules (reducing surface energy at the crack tip) induces crack propagation, which eventually may result in fatigue. The presence of a threshold in the stress intensity factor, below which no crack propagation occurs, has been the subject of important research in the last years. The higher this threshold, the higher the reliability of the ceramic, and consequently the longer its lifetime. METHODS: We utilize the Irwin K-field displacement relation to deduce crack tip stress intensity factors from the near crack tip profile. Cracks are initiated by indentation impressions. The threshold stress intensity factor is determined as the time limit of the tip stress intensity when the residual stresses have (nearly) disappeared. RESULTS: We determined the threshold stress intensity factors for most of the all ceramic materials presently important for dental restorations in Europe. Of special significance is the finding that alumina ceramic has a threshold limit nearly identical with that of zirconia. CONCLUSION: The intention of the present paper is to stress the point that the threshold stress intensity factor represents a more intrinsic property for a given ceramic material than the widely used toughness (bend strength or fracture toughness), which refers only to fast crack growth. Considering two ceramics with identical threshold limits, although with different critical stress intensity limits, means that both ceramics have identical starting points for slow crack growth. Fast catastrophic crack growth leading to spontaneous fatigue, however, is different. This growth starts later in those ceramic materials that have larger critical stress intensity factors.