Papers by Author: I.M. Shapiro

Abstract: Beneficial properties of room temperature processed silica sol-gels as resorbable and biocompatible materials for the controlled release of drugs and macromolecules have been described before. Recently, it was shown that a thin sol-gel film can be used for the controlled delivery of antibiotics such as vancomycin. It was also demonstrated that the release and degradation properties of the sol-gel films can be tailored via processing parameters. In this work, we evaluated the in vitro and in vivo bactericidal effects of vancomycin-containing thin sol-gel films applied on Ti-alloy intramedullary nails. Both the in vitro and the in vivo results demonstrate a pronounced bactericidal effect of the sol-gel/antibiotic films. This study suggests that thin antibiotic-containing sol-gel film holds great promise for the prevention and treatment of bone infections.

Abstract: Current tissue engineering strategies involve the use of scaffold materials with properties specific for the target tissue. When the tissue being treated is bone, properties such as bone bonding behaviour and excellent biological performance are very desirable. Many strategies involve the creation in vitro of a suitable hybrid construct (i.e., comprising a scaffold material and cells). These scaffolds are then inserted into the defect site, thus achieving faster integration and hence, repair. Herein, we describe the synthesis and characterization of starch-based microparticles for bone tissue engineering. This study describes the properties of two types of starch-based microparticles: their bioactivity in vitro (when processed with Bioactive Glass 45S5), the good biological performance and also the ability to be used as controlled release vehicles of bioactive molecules, such as steroids and growth factors.