A novel amorphous calcium phosphate polymer ceramic for bone repair: 1. Synthesis and characterization

Traditional materials for bone repair or replacements such as autografts an d allografts have a limited supply and other complications. Thus, alternati ve materials need to be explored. Three-dimensional, porous composites prep ared from bioresorbable polymers and hydroxyapatite or other calcium phosph ate ceramics are promising materials for the repair or replacement of disea sed or damaged bone. However, in many cases the ceramic component of those composites is crystalline in nature, while bone apatite is made of a poorly crystalline, carbonated phosphate system. In this study, we synthesized a noncrystalline, carbonated calcium phosphate ceramic by carrying out the re action within bioresorbable PLAGA microspheres using a modified emulsion/so lvent evaporation technique, making each individual microsphere a composite . Sintering the composite microspheres together yielded a bioresorbable, po rous, 3-dimensional scaffold that may be ideal for tissue ingrowth, making this composite scaffold potentially suitable for bone repair applications. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.