Comparison of Biomineralization on Calcium Phosphate Implants in Rabbit and Dog Models

Porous alpha- tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) was implanted in rabbit and dog models to investigate its induction of calcium phosphate (Ca-P) formation. The morphology and structure of the formed Ca-Ps were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The results showed an animal-dependent behavior of in vivo Ca-P formation. There were flake-like octacalcium phosphate (OCP) precipitates in the rabbit but rod-like hydroxyapatite (HA) precipitates in the dog model. In addition, high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) image revealed that there was OCP structure in certain portions of the rod-like HA precipitates in the dog model. And the orientation relation of OCP/HA was deduced as OCP (010)//HA (0 10) and OCP (001)//HA (00 1) . This implied that the in vivo HA was formed via OCP precursor phase.