Fabrication of Fiber-Reinforced CPC Composite Artificial Bone by RP/RT

Abstract

Self-hardening calcium phosphate cement (CPC) could not be used to repair a large segmental defect in a load-bearing bone because of its brittleness and weak shock resistance as well as ultra-minute pores. Recent studies incorporated fibers into CPC to improve its strength. A novel approach by rapid prototyping and rapid tool technique (RP/RT) was used in this paper to fabricate fibre-reinforced CPC composite artificial bone. The subsequent mechanical experiments demonstrated that the compressive strength of the CPC-fiber artificial bone was 24MPa, which was significantly higher than 6MPa for CPC control without fiber. And in-vivo experiment about canine radius repair proved that the implanted CPC-fiber artificial bone enabled to provide short-time reinforced mechanical strength, while the degraded fibers created new macropores for new tissue ingrowth. In summary, the CPC-fiber artificial bone may facilitate bone ingrowth and its four times increase in strength may help extend the use of CPC to larger bone repairs in moderately stress-bearing locations.