1,721,167 research outputs found
Sintering effects of bioactive glass incorporation in tricalcium phosphate scaffolds
Full text linkThe influence of using bioactive glass as a sintering aid in the production of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) scaffolds was investigated. The scaffolds were fabricated by sponge replication followed by sintering in a range of temperatures from 1150 to 1300 °C. Morphological investigations by SEM and micro-computed tomography showed that the scaffolds exhibited a three-dimensional trabecular architecture mimicking that of cancellous bone, with high porosity (about 80 vol%) and highly-interconnected macropores with mean pore size of 314 μm. Apart from playing a role in improving the mechanical properties of the scaffolds, glass was shown to enhance the stability of β-TCP by increasing the β → α phase transition temperature
Glass-matrix biocomposites: Synthesis and characterization
No full textCaO-SiO2 base glass-matrix/Ti particle biocomposite coatings on Ti6Al4V substrates have been prepared by means of Vacuum Plasma Spray. The base glass is considered bioactive, because, when soaked in a fluid that simulates the inorganic ion concentration of human plasma (SBF), it develops a bonelike apatite layer on its surface. The aim of this research activity was to toughen this brittle bioactive material and to broaden its biomedical applications. Pure titanium was chosen as toughening phase because of its well-known biocompatibility, and Ti6Al4V alloy as substrate because of both its biocompatibility and its mechanical reliability. At first the composites were prepared as bulk materials, by means of a simple sintering process. Then, by ball-milling the sintered composite, the as-obtained `composite powders' were sprayed by Vacuum Plasma Spray (VPS) on the substrate. By means of Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), the characteristic temperatures of the base glasses were determined. The thermal properties of mixtures of glass powders and different vol% Ti particles were studied by means of DTA, DSC, hot-stage microscopy, and dilatometry, with the aim of optimizing the sintering conditions. Both the bulk and the coated samples have been characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), compositional analysis (EDS), Vickers indentations, and leaching tests after soaking in a simulated body fluid (SBF)
Assessment of collagen-based nanostructured biomimetic systems with a co-culture of human bone-derived cells
Full text linkOsteoporosis is a worldwide disease resulting in the increase of bone fragility and enhanced fracture risk in adults. In the context of osteoporotic fractures, bone tissue engineering (BTE), i.e., the use of bone substitutes combining biomaterials, cells, and other factors, is considered a potential alternative to conventional treatments. Innovative scaffolds need to be tested in in vitro systems where the simultaneous presence of osteoblasts (OBs) and osteoclasts (OCs), the two main players of bone remodeling, is required to mimic their crosstalk and molecular cooperation. To this aim, two composite materials were developed, based on type I collagen, and containing either strontiumenriched mesoporous bioactive glasses or rod-like hydroxyapatite nanoparticles. The developed nanostructured systems underwent genipin chemical crosslinking and were then tested with an indirect co-culture of human trabecular bone-derived OBs and buffy coat-derived OC precursors, for 2–3 weeks. The favorable structural and biological properties of the materials proved to successfully support the viability, adhesion, and differentiation of cells, encouraging a further investigation of the developed bioactive systems as biomaterial inks for the 3D printing of more complex scaffolds for BTE
PEG-coated large mesoporous silicas as smart platform for protein delivery and their use in a collagen-based formulation for 3d printing
Full text linkSilica-based mesoporous systems have gained great interest in drug delivery applications due to their excellent biocompatibility and high loading capability. However, these materials face challenges in terms of pore-size limitations since they are characterized by nanopores ranging between 6–8 nm and thus unsuitable to host large molecular weight molecules such as proteins, enzymes and growth factors (GFs). In this work, for an application in the field of bone regeneration, large-pore mesoporous silicas (LPMSs) were developed to vehicle large biomolecules and release them under a pH stimulus. Considering bone remodeling, the proposed pH-triggered mechanism aims to mimic the release of GFs encased in the bone matrix due to bone resorption by osteoclasts (OCs) and the associated pH drop. To this aim, LPMSs were prepared by using 1,3,5-trimethyl benzene (TMB) as a swelling agent and the synthesis solution was hydrothermally treated and the influence of different process temperatures and durations on the resulting mesostructure was investigated. The synthesized particles exhibited a cage-like mesoporous structure with accessible pores of diameter up to 23 nm. LPMSs produced at 140◦C for 24 h showed the best compromise in terms of specific surface area, pores size and shape and hence, were selected for further experiments. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used as model protein to evaluate the ability of the LPMSs to adsorb and release large biomolecules. After HRP-loading, LPMSs were coated with a pH-responsive polymer, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), allowing the release of the incorporated biomolecules in response to a pH decrease, in an attempt to mimic GFs release in bone under the acidic pH generated by the resorption activity of OCs. The reported results proved that PEG-coated carriers released HRP more quickly in an acidic environment, due to the protonation of PEG at low pH that catalyzes polymer hydrolysis reaction. Our findings indicate that LPMSs could be used as carriers to deliver large biomolecules and prove the effectiveness of PEG as pH-responsive coating. Finally, as proof of concept, a collagen-based suspension was obtained by incorporating PEG-coated LPMS carriers into a type I collagen matrix with the aim of designing a hybrid formulation for 3D-printing of bone scaffolds
Strontium Functionalization of Biomaterials for Bone Tissue Engineering Purposes: A Biological Point of View
Full text linkStrontium (Sr) is a trace element taken with nutrition and found in bone in close connection to native hydroxyapatite. Sr is involved in a dual mechanism of coupling the stimulation of bone formation with the inhibition of bone resorption, as reported in the literature. Interest in studying Sr has increased in the last decades due to the development of strontium ranelate (SrRan), an orally active agent acting as an anti-osteoporosis drug. However, the use of SrRan was subjected to some limitations starting from 2014 due to its negative side effects on the cardiac safety of patients. In this scenario, an interesting perspective for the administration of Sr is the introduction of Sr ions in biomaterials for bone tissue engineering (BTE) applications. This strategy has attracted attention thanks to its positive effects on bone formation, alongside the reduction of osteoclast activity, proven by in vitro and in vivo studies. The purpose of this review is to go through the classes of biomaterials most commonly used in BTE and functionalized with Sr, i.e., calcium phosphate ceramics, bioactive glasses, metal-based materials, and polymers. The works discussed in this review were selected as representative for each type of the above-mentioned categories, and the biological evaluation in vitro and/or in vivo was the main criterion for selection. The encouraging results collected from the in vitro and in vivo biological evaluations are outlined to highlight the potential applications of materials’ functionalization with Sr as an osteopromoting dopant in BTE
3d printing in alginic acid bath of in-situ crosslinked collagen composite scaffolds
Full text linkBone-tissue regeneration is a growing field, where nanostructured-bioactive materials are designed to replicate the natural properties of the target tissue, and then are processed with technolo-gies such as 3D printing, into constructs that mimic its natural architecture. Type I bovine collagen formulations, containing functional nanoparticles (enriched with therapeutic ions or biomolecules) or nanohydroxyapatite, are considered highly promising, and can be printed using support baths. These baths ensure an accurate deposition of the material, nonetheless their full removal post-printing can be difficult, in addition to undesired reactions with the crosslinking agents often used to improve the final structural integrity of the scaffolds. Such issues lead to partial collapse of the printed constructs and loss of geometrical definition. To overcome these limitations, this work presents a new alternative approach, which consists of adding a suitable concentration of crosslinking agent to the printing formulations to promote the in-situ crosslinking of the constructs prior to the removal of the support bath. To this aim, genipin, chosen as crosslinking agent, was added (0.1 wt.%) to collagen-based biomaterial inks (containing either 38 wt.% mesoporous bioactive glasses or 65 wt.% nanohydroxyapatite), to trigger the crosslinking of collagen and improve the stability of the 3D printed scaffolds in the post-processing step. Moreover, to support the material deposition, a 15 wt.% alginic acid solution was used as a bath, which proved to sustain the printed structures and was also easily removable, allowing for the stable processing of high-resolution geometries
3D Printed Scaffold Based on Type I Collagen/PLGA_TGF-β1 Nanoparticles Mimicking the Growth Factor Footprint of Human Bone Tissue
Full text linkIn bone regenerative strategies, the controlled release of growth factors is one of the main aspects for successful tissue regeneration. Recent trends in the drug delivery field increased the interest in the development of biodegradable systems able to protect and transport active agents. In the present study, we designed degradable poly(lactic-co-glycolic)acid (PLGA) nanocarriers suitable for the release of Transforming Growth Factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1), a key molecule in the management of bone cells behaviour. Spherical TGF-β1-containing PLGA (PLGA_TGF-β1) nanoparticles (ca.250 nm) exhibiting high encapsulation efficiency (ca.64%) were successfully synthesized. The TGF-β1 nanocarriers were subsequently combined with type I collagen for the fabrication of nanostructured 3D printed scaffolds able to mimic the TGF-β1 presence in the human bone extracellular matrix (ECM). The homogeneous hybrid formulation underwent a comprehensive rheological characterisation in view of 3D printing. The 3D printed collagen-based scaffolds (10 mm × 10 mm × 1 mm) successfully mimicked the TGF-β1 presence in human bone ECM as assessed by immunohistochemical TGF-β1 staining, covering ca.3.4% of the whole scaffold area. Moreover, the collagenous matrix was able to reduce the initial burst release observed in the first 24 h from about 38% for the PLGA_TGF-β1 alone to 14.5%, proving that the nanocarriers incorporation into collagen allows achieving sustained release kinetics
Development and biocompatibility of collagen-based composites enriched with nanoparticles of strontium containing mesoporous glass
Full text linkPolymerization shrinkage in the case of a novel dental composite with polymeric matrix
No full textNovel composite materials based on polymer matrix with inorganic filler have been synthesized and characterized in order to evaluate their potential application in dentistry, as restorative materials. Since the polymerization shrinkage (PS) that occurs in the matrix phase is one of the most commonly cited deficiencies of dental restorative composites, the present study investigated the reduction in volume upon curing. The shrinkage study involved buoyancy technique and the determination of the densities of selected materials. The conclusion assessed was that the investigated composite materials showed a better behavior, in comparison with literature findings on commercial employed dental composites
Laser surface texturing of alumina/zirconia composite ceramics for potential use in hip joint prosthesis
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