Kristine Salma-Ancane

Fabrication, Properties and Applications of Dense Hydroxyapatite: A Review

In the last five decades, there have been vast advances in the field of biomaterials, including ceramics, glasses, glass-ceramics and metal alloys. Dense and porous ceramics have been widely used for various biomedical applications. Current applications of bioceramics include bone grafts, spinal fusion, bone repairs, bone fillers, maxillofacial reconstruction, etc. Amongst the various calcium phosphate compositions, hydroxyapatite, which has a composition similar to human bone, has attracted wide interest. Much emphasis is given to tissue engineering, both in porous and dense ceramic forms. The current review focusses on the various applications of dense hydroxyapatite and other dense biomaterials on the aspects of transparency and the mechanical and electrical behavior. Prospective future applications, established along the aforesaid applications of hydroxyapatite, appear to be promising regarding bone bonding, advanced medical treatment methods, improvement of the mechanical strength of artificial bone grafts and better in vitro/in vivo methodologies to afford more particular outcomes.

Strontium and strontium ranelate: Historical review of some of their functions

The review covers historical and last decades scientific literature on the biological and clinical role of strontium (Sr) and strontium ranelate (Sr RAN). It enrols the description of the main effects of Sr on supportive tissue, its proven and possible morphopathogenetical mechanisms and the interaction with the bone, and especially focuses on the Sr ability to inhibit osteoclasts and affect the programmed cell death. The main experimental and clinical experience regarding the Sr RAN influence in the treatment of osteoporosis and the search for correct doses is also highlighted. The review gives insight into the role of Sr/Sr RAN on stem cells, apoptosis, animal and clinical research.

Biodegradable Materials and Metallic Implants—A Review

Recent progress made in biomaterials and their clinical applications is well known. In the last five decades, great advances have been made in the field of biomaterials, including ceramics, glasses, polymers, composites, glass-ceramics and metal alloys. A variety of bioimplants are currently used in either one of the aforesaid forms. Some of these materials are designed to degrade or to be resorbed inside the body rather than removing the implant after its function is served. Many properties such as mechanical properties, non-toxicity, surface modification, degradation rate, biocompatibility, and corrosion rate and scaffold design are taken into consideration. The current review focuses on state-of-the-art biodegradable bioceramics, polymers, metal alloys and a few implants that employ bioresorbable/biodegradable materials. The essential functions, properties and their critical factors are discussed in detail, in addition to their challenges to be overcome.

Synthesis of Strontium Substituted Hydroxyapatite through Different Precipitation Routes

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of precursor materials used in the synthesis on the Sr incorporation levels into the hydroxyapatite (HAp) lattice and to characterize the synthesis products. HAp powders containing various amounts of Sr were synthesized through three different precipitation routes. In all cases, the as-synthesized products were found to be pure HAp. However, atomic absorption spectrometry analysis showed that by reacting orthophosphoric acid with calcium hydroxide and strontium hydroxide, as well as by reacting diammonium hydrogen phosphate with calcium nitrate tetrahydrate and strontium nitrate a significant proportion of the Sr added, did not substitute into the HAp lattice. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the effect of substituting relatively high amounts (up to 3.69 ± 0.37 wt.%) of Sr into the HAp lattice was to decrease the cristallinity. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (nitrogen absorption) analysis showed that the incorporation of Sr reduced particle sizes of the precipitated HAp products. Contrary, scanning electron microscopy revealed that the incorporation of Sr increased length of the precipitated needle-like particles.

Effect of Mg Content on Thermal Stability of β-Tricalcium Phosphate Ceramics

β-Tricalcium phosphate bioceramics with small, close to bone-like amounts of Mg were obtained by modified precipitation method and following sintering. The effect of small amounts of Mg on the thermal stability, microstructure and sintering behavior of β-tricalcium phosphate bioceramics was evaluated. Addition of small amounts of Mg, can induce a remarkable effect on the physic-chemical properties of β-TCP and therefore the chemical composition of the starting materials should be controlled.

Evaluation of Sr- and/or Mg-Containing Hydroxyapatite Behavior in Simulated Body Fluid

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the behavior of Sr- and/or Mg-containing hydroxyapatite (HAp) bioceramics in simulated body fluid (SBF). Sr-and/or Mg-containing HAp powders were synthesized by modified wet chemical precipitation method. Sr-and/or Mg-containing HAp bioceramics were prepared by uniaxial pressing of the precipitated powders and subsequent sintering at 1100 °C for 1 h. The synthesis products were characterized in terms of chemical, phase and molecular composition. Influence of the substitutions on thermal stability, morphology and microstructure of the HAp products were evaluated. Results suggest that incorporation of Sr (up to 1.45 wt.%) in HAp structure induced an increasing of particle sizes, but incorporation of Mg (up to 1.05 wt.%) led to a reduction of particle sizes of the HAp powders. The ability to simultaneously release bioactive ions and the apatite-formation ability of the Sr-and/or Mg-containing HAp bioceramics were evaluated through immersing the samples in SBF for different time periods. Ca ions release and apatite-formation ability on the surfaces of the Sr-and/or Mg-containing HAp bioceramics in SBF depends on Sr and/or Mg concentration in the samples.

The Influence of Biogenic and Synthetic Starting Materials on the Properties of Porous Hydroxyapatite Bioceramics

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of biogenic and synthetic starting materials on properties of porous hydroxyapatite (HAp) bioceramics. HAp powders were synthesized by modified precipitation method using biogenic calcium carbonates (ostrich (Struthio camelus) egg shells, hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) egg shells, snail (Viviparus contectus) shells) and synthetic calcium oxides (Sigma-Aldrich and Fluka). Specific surface area, molecular structure and morphology of obtained powders were determined. As-synthesized HAp powders had a varied specific surface area with a wide range from 83 to 150 m2g-1 depending on CaO source. Porous bodies of HAp were prepared by in situ viscous mass foaming with NH4HCO3 as pore forming agent. Foamed and dried green bodies were sintered at 1100 °C. The obtained bioceramics were investigated using Archimedes method, field emission scanning electron microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method. There are considerable differences between porous HAp bioceramics structures prepared from different sources of CaO. The choice of starting material substantially affects the macro-and microstructure of prepared porous bioceramics.

Fast Setting Pre-Mixed Calcium Phosphate Bone Cements Based on α-Tricalcium Phosphate

Conventional calcium phosphate bone cements are self setting water based pastes. Recently pre-mixed calcium phosphate bone cements have been proposed that have non-aqueous fluid as liquid phase of the paste. Such cements thus only start setting reaction in contact with body fluids. In this work the properties (cohesion, compressive strength, phase composition) of pre-mixed calcium phosphate cements based on α-tricalcium phosphate and calcium dihydrogen phosphate monohydrate are described. Properties of several cement compositions are examined and compared to properties of β-tricalcium phosphate and calcium dihydrogen phosphate monohydrate based cements. It was found that α-tricalcium phosphate and calcium dihydrogen phosphate monohydrate based cements have higher compressive strength (10 - 15 MPa) than corresponding β-tricalcium phosphate and calcium dihydrogen phosphate monohydrate based cements (10 - 6 MPa). Out of examined cement paste liquids (glycerol, polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol) cements using glycerol as the liquid phase had higher compressive strength and are more cohesive.

Incorporation of Magnesium Ions into Synthetic Hydroxyapatite: Synthesis and Characterization

The objective of this work is to synthesize pure and Mg-substituted hydroxyapatite (HAp) powders with different MgO content in synthesis media (in the wide range of 0.1-10.0 wt% in respect to Ca), and to study the influence of Mg2+ ions substitution on the physicochemical properties of HAp materials. In this work HAp and magnesium-substituted hydroxyapatite (Mg-HAp) were synthesized by modified wet chemical precipitation of homogenous suspension of Mg(OH)2/Ca(OH)2 and H3PO4 solution. Systematic investigation on as-synthesized and sintered Mg-HAp and HAp samples shows that the incorporation of MgO promotes decomposition of HAp to β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and significantly modified its microstructure. The effect and evidence of incorporation of Mg2+ ions into HAp structure is discussed.

Sr- and/or Mg-Containing Nanocrystalline Hydroxyapatite: Study from Synthesis to Calcined Products

In this work, nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HAp) powders were synthesized through wet precipitation method by adjusting the reaction temperature between 0 °C and 5 °C. The influence of biologically active Mg and Sr addition on HAp crystalline structure and thermal behavior was assessed. In all synthesis, nanocrystalline and/or amorphous HAp was found to be the major phase, and was accompanied by Ca(OH)2 as the minor phase. Results suggested that Sr and Mg have an impending effect on nucleation, crystallization and thermal stability of HAp. The addition of Sr or Mg promoted deviation from stoichiometry and formation of amorphous components, which affected thermal stability and sintering behavior of the synthesis products.