title: Nano iron oxide-hydroxyapatite composite ceramics with enhanced radiopacity.
abstract: Hydroxyapatite has been widely used for a variety of bone filling and augmentation applications. But the poorly resolved X-ray image of certain hydroxyapatite (HA) based implants such as porous blocks and self setting HA cements is a radiological problem to surgeons for monitoring of the implant and early diagnosis complications. In the present work the practical difficulty related to the reduced X-ray opacity was overcome by exploiting the contrast enhancement property of iron oxide nano particles. Sintered nano iron oxide-HA composite ceramics were prepared from powders produced through a co-precipitation route. The phase purity and bioactivity of the composites were analyzed as a function of percentage iron oxide in the composite. The X-ray attenuation of dense and porous composites was compared with pure HA using a C-arm X-ray imaging system and micro computed tomography. In all the prepared composites, HA retains its phase identity and high X-ray opacity as obtained for a composition containing 40 wt% iron oxide. The increased cell viability and cell adhesion nature depicted by the prepared composite offers considerable interest for the material in bone tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Bioceramics Laboratory, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ajeesh
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Annie
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Harikrishna Varma
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones; D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry*; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry*; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide; D008420:Manufactured Materials / Q000032:analysis; D011208:Powders; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D011208:Powders; C000499:ferric oxide; D017886:Durapatite; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide