Application and Mechanical Properties of Polyphenylene Sulfide-Based Composite Organic Materials in Skull Repair

Abstract

For the problem that the metal titanium mesh has major shortcomings in clinical skull repair, poly(lactideglycolide acid) (PLGA) was dissolved in 1,4-dioxane and it was mixed with nano-scale powdery hydroxyapatite (HA) to obtain HA/PLGA. Nano-scale HA/PLGA/PPS composite materials were obtained by the physical blending method and direct composite method with polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). First, the material characterization of SEM and TEM was carried out during the preparation of the material. The nano-HA/PLGA/PPS composite material was implanted into the skull of patients with large bone flap decompression. The skull was repaired with isolated bone flaps and shaped nanomaterials. X-ray images, histopathological tests, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of genes related to osteogenic activity were performed on the repaired damaged skull of the patients. After the operation, the skeleton formed by the prepared material was tested for mechanical indexes such as bending resistance and stretching. The results showed that the particle size of the material produced by direct composite was better, and HA/PLGA can be uniformly filled into the PPS. Nano-HA/PLGA/PPS composite materials can improve the proliferation ability of MG-63 cells and promote the osteogenic differentiation of the cells. After implantation of the material, the bone tissue healed well after the skull defect, and the mRNA expression of osteogenic related genes (ALP, Colα(I), IGF-1, OC, TGF-β1) was significantly increased. Post-operational bending strength and tensile strength tests of the implanted repaired skull skeleton show that compared with pure PPS, the addition of HA/PLGA material can increase the rigidity of the material.