title: A strut graft substitute consisting of a metal core and a polymer surface.
abstract: In revision hip replacement surgery cortical strut grafts made of allograft bone are used to augment femoral bone stock and to fix periprosthetic femoral fractures. These struts are made from femoral bone as hemi-cylinders and are fixed to host bone with cerclage wires. We developed an artificial bone substitute for such strut grafts in order to overcome availability restrictions and potential infectious hazards with allograft bone. The partially biodegradable implant consists of a functionally-graded combination of titanium, polylactide, hydroxyapatite, and calcium carbonate. It is made by manual dip-coating of the metal (after chemical surface treatment) into solutions of polylactide with suspended calcium salts. In this way the titanium core is surrounded by an inner layer of slowly biodegradable poly(L-lactide) with calcium carbonate. The part of the implant that is in contact with the bone consists of rapidly biodegradable poly(D,L-lactide), hydroxyapatite and calcium carbonate. This method leads to an implant which is easily adaptable before the implantation to the geometry of the patient's bone when moderately heated (70 degrees C), but has a sufficient mechanical strength to serve as support under physiologic temperatures. The implant is mechanically stable, biocompatible, partially biodegradable, and provides a scaffold for growing bone.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitaetsstrasse 5-7, 45117 Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ana L C
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Lagoa
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wedemeyer
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: von Knoch
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Löer
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Epple
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000737:chemistry*; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry; D004867:Equipment Design; D008422:Materials Testing; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D018786:Bone Substitutes; D008670:Metals; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; C033616:poly(lactide); D017886:Durapatite; D014025:Titanium