Papers by Author: Adriana Bigi

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a study aimed to deposit a biomimetic apatitic coating on the porous surface of Ti alloy acetabular cups, produced with AM techniques. To this purpose, we utilized a slight supersaturated Ca/P solution at physiological values of pH and temperature. The results of the XRD, SEM and EDS investigation indicate the 6 h immersion in the calcifying solution are sufficient to provoke the deposition of a uniform coating of poor crystalline apatite on the surface and inside the porous structure of the substrates.

Abstract: We recently developed a new biomimetic calcium phosphate bone cement enriched with gelatin (GEL-CP) which exhibits improved mechanical properties with respect to the control cement (C-CP) and a good response to osteoblast-like cells. In this work, we have extended the investigation to primary culture of osteoblasts derived from normal (N-OB) and osteopenic (O-OB) sheep bones cultured on samples of GEL-CP, and their behavior was compared to that of cells cultured on C-CP as control. Cell morphology, proliferation, and differentiation were evaluated at 3 and 7 days. Preliminary in vivo tests were carried out onto critical size defects in the radius diaphysis of rats.

Abstract: We employed a slightly supersaturated solution (Ca/P) with an ionic composition simpler than that of simulated body fluid (SBF) to obtain a fast biomimetic coating on Ti6Al4V substrates. The results of thin film X-ray diffraction, FTIR, SEM, TEM-ED investigations indicate that hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocrystals are laid down in a few hours on the susbstrates. The amount of deposition increases with the immersion time. Furthermore, the thin layer of HA deposited after 3 h soaking in Ca/P solution acts as a catalyst for the further deposition of apatite from SBF.