Mechanical verification of soft-tissue attachment on bioactive glasses and titanium implants.
Soft-tissue attachment is a desired feature of many clinical biomaterials. The aim of the current study was to design a suitable experimental method for tensile testing of implant incorporation with soft-tissues. Conical implants were made of three compositions of bioactive glass (SiO(2)-P(2)O(5)-B(2)O(3)-Na(2)O-K(2)O-CaO-MgO) or titanium fiber mesh (porosity 84.7%). The implants were surgically inserted into the dorsal subcutaneous soft-tissue or back muscles in the rat. Soft-tissue attachment was evaluated by pull-out testing using a custom-made jig 8 weeks after implantation. Titanium fiber mesh implants had developed a relatively high pull-out force in subcutaneous tissue (12.33+/-5.29 N, mean+/-SD) and also measurable attachment with muscle tissue (2.46+/-1.33 N). The bioactive glass implants failed to show mechanically relevant soft-tissue bonding. The experimental set-up of mechanical testing seems to be feasible for verification studies of soft-tissue attachment. The inexpensive small animal model is beneficial for large-scale in vivo screening of new biomaterials.
Zhao
Desheng
D
Orthopaedic Research Unit, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Moritz
Niko
N
Vedel
Erik
E
Hupa
Leena
L
Aro
Hannu T
HT
D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D023421:Models, Animal; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014025:Titanium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D014025:Titanium