title: Biosilicate®-gelatine bone scaffolds by the foam replica technique: development and characterization.
abstract: The development of bioactive glass-ceramic materials has been a topic of great interest aiming at enhancing the mechanical strength of traditional bioactive scaffolds. In the present study, we test and demonstrate the use of Biosilicate®glass-ceramic powder to fabricate bone scaffolds by the foam replica method. Scaffolds possessing the main requirements for use in bone tissue engineering (95% porosity, 200-500μm pore size) were successfully produced. Gelatine coating was investigated as a simple approach to increase the mechanical competence of the scaffolds. The gelatine coating did not affect the interconnectivity of the pores and did not significantly affect the bioactivity of the Biosilicate®scaffold. The gelatine coating significantly improved the compressive strength (i.e. 0.80 ± 0.05 MPa of coated versus 0.06 ± 0.01 MPa of uncoated scaffolds) of the Biosilicate®scaffold. The combination of Biosilicate®glass-ceramic and gelatine is attractive for producing novel scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstrasse 6, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Desimone
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstrasse 6, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Martensstrasse 7, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Roether
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Martensstrasse 7, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: Vitreous Materials Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Murilo C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Crovace
authors.affiliation: Vitreous Materials Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Candida M
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Vitreous Materials Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Edgar D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Zanotto
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstrasse 6, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Aldo R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Boccaccini
keywords: bioactivity; bone tissue engineering; glass-ceramics; scaffolds