title: Ultrasound monitoring of the setting of calcium-based bone cements.
abstract: In this study, the setting of calcium-sulphate (CS) and -phosphate (CP) based bone cements (BCs) was monitored by ultrasound. The objective was to link acoustic and material properties of ceramic-based BCs from the early stages of the cement curing process. The powder phase of the CS-cement consisted of CS hemihydrate; the CP-cement was a mixture of alpha-tricalcium phosphate, CS dihydrate and hydroxyapatite. For the CS-cement, the acoustic impedance z                         (c)(t), the speed of sound c                         (c)(t) and the density ρ(c)(t) were measured at the interval of liquid-to-powder ratios LPRs from 0.20 to 3.00 ml/g. For the CP-cement, the acoustic characteristics obtained were the z                         (c)(t) and the reflection coefficient R                         (p,c)(t), and the LPRs ranged from 0.30 to 0.40 ml/g. The resulting acoustic properties indicated that CP- and CS-cements exhibited distinctly different curing behaviour; while CS-cement expanded, CP-cement shrank with time.
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioengineering & Biomaterials, Interdepartment Research Group for the Applied Scientific Collaboration, Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Vlad
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernández
mesh_terms: D001843:Bone Cements; D002118:Calcium; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements; D002118:Calcium