Papers by Author: Hong Song Fan

Abstract: Good interfacial interaction is crucial for preparation of inorganic-organic materials at a nanometer level. Poly(α-methacrylic acid) (PMAA) was grafted on the PLA surfaces via photooxidization and subsequent UV induced polymerization in an attempt to synthesize nano-hydroxyapatite/poly(lactide) (n-HA/PLA) composites. Grafting of PMAA on the PLA surface was confirmed using FTIR analysis and the size distribution measurement of the grafted-PLA (g-PLA) particles. n-HA/g-PLA composites were in situ synthesized via dropwise addition of Ca2+- and g-PLA containing solution to PO4 3-- solution. The prepared composites were characterized by FTIR, XRD，SEM and TEM means. Analytical results indicated that the g-PLA acts as a template to manipulate the nucleation and growth of n-HA crystals and thereby to control the morphology, size and anisotropy of n-HA crystals and their distribution over the organic phase. Chemical linkages and/or interfacial interactions between the n-HA and the g-PLA in the n-HA/g-PLA composite were further discussed.

Abstract: A new way to prepare polymer/hydroxyapatite(HA) composite scaffolds with 3-D interconnected macro and micro pores at room temperature was established, basically based on solvent-casting and particle-leaching together with foaming technique. With this method, Polylactide (PLA) / HA composites of porous architecture with macro pores (50~300)m, average 200)m) and micro pores (~10)m) on the skeleton were obtained. The bending strength and the compressive strength of the composite scaffold were reached to 11.5 MPa and 7MPa respectively with the porosity of approximate to 90%. The study supplied a new short time, low energyexpending method to prepare polymer/ceramic composite with high porosity and interconnected porous structure at room temperature.

Abstract: Calcium phosphate cement (CPC) has many advantages and is frequently used as a carrier of antibiotic and bone growth factors. Salmon calcitonin(S-CT) is effective in treating osteoporosis. Due to its potential of promoting bone cell proliferation, S-CT was combined with injectable CPC to accelerate the restoring of the bone defect induced by osteoporosis and the composite can be used in minimal invasive surgery. Uniform design was used to optimize the prescription, and the effects of pore-maker and S-CT on the characters of CPC were studied. The in vitro releasing of S-CT from the optimum CPC in deionized water, SBF and rabbit serum was studied with HPLC, respectively. The results showed that the contents of HA and citric acid-NaHCO3 affect the physical characters of CPC sharply, but S-CT has little effect on it. The releasing of S-CT in three different medium follow Hugichi equation, but the speed is slower in rabbit serum than in deionized water and SBF. S-CT carried porous injectable CPC composite possesses the basic performance for clinical needs, and it is promising to be used in osteoporosis induced bone defect and accelerate bone repair.

Abstract: This study was to develop an injectable biocompatible and porous calcium phosphate collagen composite cement scaffold by in situ setting. TTCP was prepared as main material of the CPC powder, and the collagen solution was added into the phosphoric acid directly to form the liquid phase. The injectable time (tI), setting time (tS) and setting temperature (TS), along with the PH value were recorded during the setting process. The compressive strength, morphology and porosity were tested. With the increase of collagen, this novel CPC get a tI of 5mins to 8mins, tS of 20mins to 30mins, compressive strength from 1.5MPa to 4MPa, and the porosity from 40% to 60%. This study gave a possibility to form a porous scaffold of collagen/CPC composite with the nature of injectability and setting in situ.

Abstract: Studying on the interaction between proteins and calcium phosphate implants is one of the basic subjects in biomaterials science and engineering. In this work, zeta potentials and contact angles of hydroxyapatite (HA) and biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) ceramics were measured, and the adsorption behaviors of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on the surfaces were investigated. The adsorption isotherms of BSA on both ceramics follow the Langmuir type, however, BCP shows higher BSA adsorption ability. The differences of contact angles and zeta potentials in HA and BCP are the key factors to determine their ability to bind BSA molecules.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop a feasible technique for bone reparation and further explore the possible applications of Ca-P ceramics in segmental load-bearing bone reparation. HA/TCP ceramics sintered at 1250oC were fabricated into tube-like columns of Φ15mm×30mm with a central canal of Φ4mm. Bone-like apatite was precipitated on the ceramics before implantation. 12 male dogs were used in this study, and a 30mm long segmental bone defect was made in the middle of one femur of each dog. Supported by the fixation of net-cage-structured TC4, the osteoinductive Ca-P ceramic cylinder was used to repair the segmental defect in dog femur. Stress was analyzed by ANSYS. The morphology recovery, function restoration, gait analyses and bone regeneration were evaluated. After implantation at 2, 4 and 8 months, the specimens were harvested respectively. The specimens were evaluated with morphological observation and mechanical testing. Stress analysis showed that the thickness of TC4 net cage was 0.3mm. The morphology recovery of the experimental animal was good and function was restored after 2 months gradually. Aided by stress analysis and by optimizing the design and fixation of implants, Ca-P materials with excellent osteoinductivity could be applied in repairing segmental bone defects.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the response of osteoblasts to calcium phosphate with different surface modification, and to evaluate the osteoinductive capabilities of these biomaterials. 60HA/40α-TCP ceramics sintered at 1250oC was applied in this study. A ceramic cylinder with F5mm×8mm and slice with F10mm×1mm were prepared respectively. One third of the ceramics was used to form bone-like apatite (BLA), and the surface of another one third was modified with collagen. Osteoblasts (1×106/ml) were co-cultured with the three kinds of thin slices for 12h, 24h and 48h. SEM observation was applied to evaluate whether the surface modification and BLA formation could affect the attachment and proliferation of osteoblast in vitro. The three kinds of cylinder samples were implanted in dog muscle to evaluate their differences in osteoinduction. Cells grew in multi-layers and attached to the surface and proliferated well in the collagen and HA/TCP group. In the untreated and BLA precipitated groups, cells did not attach to the surface well. Osteoinduction was good in the BLA precipitated group and the amount of bone formed was higher; in the untreated group and collagen-treated group, no bone formation was observed in the tested period. This result indicated that the scaffold used in cell-materials composites in vitro and that in osteoinductive material based tissue engineering in vivo was not same.

Abstract: A revised dynamic immersion device was designed, and the effects of flowing speed of SBF in inner pores of ceramics on the formation of apatite in the pores were investigated in this study. The results showed some crystals were overlaid on the walls of inner pores. The crystal shape changed with flow rate of RSBF. When flow rates of RSBF were 2 ml/min, some stamen-like crystals formed on the inner walls of ceramics. In the ceramics in RSBF with flow rate of 5ml/min, besides more stamen -like crystals, a thin layer of fine deposits was overlaid on the walls of inner holes and the surface of the stamen -like crystals. But when the flow rate was 8 ml/min, only a thick layer of fine deposits on the walls of inner pores could be found. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results revealed the deposits obtained in this study are carbonate hydroxyapatite (CHA).

Abstract: The osteoinduction of Calcium Phosphate (CaP) had been proved and generally been investigated by in vivo implantation. However, the mechanism of the osteoinductivity was not clear and it was difficult to judge the osteoinductivity in vitro. In this study, Mouse C2C12 cell line, a kind of myoblast precursor cell, was employed to co-culture with CaP. The induction of cell differentiation by materials was tested by MTT method, fluorescence observation, especially the mRNA expression of Osteocalcin, Type I collagen and Fibronectin by RT-PCR. It was founded that C2C12 cells could be induced to expression osteocalcin when growth on the surface of the HA/TCP ceramics. At the same time, the ceramics with different composition and sintering temperature seemed to induce difference expression level of the related genes. The results proved that phase composition was one of the most important factors in the regulation of bone-related genes. This study provided a potential model to evaluate the osteoinductivity of CaP ceramics in vitro.

Abstract: Porous titanium with good strength and three-dimension pore structure was fabricated by using H2O2 as vesicant foaming titanium powder. The compressive strength, bending strength and Young’s modulus of porous titanium with the porosity of 58vol% are 190.7Mpa, 159Mpa and 4.15Gpa, respectively, similar to that of the nature bone. This kind of porous titanium with good bio-mechanical compatibility may be potential to alleviate the problems caused by the mismatch of the strength and Young's modulus between implant (110 GPa for Ti) and bone. Moreover, the pores (mainly in 100-700µm) are all interconnected and there are many microspores (about 10µm) in the wall of the macrospores. This porous structure would endow the materials with better activity.