Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
This is because the surface nanophase materials increase the
activepointswherecellsandproteinscanacceptandattach,besides
the goodhydrophilicity.
3.4 Conclusions and Outlook
This chapter focuses on the fabrication of a biomimetic Ti-based
metal scaffold to highly resemble the hierarchical structure of
humanbonesonboththemacroandnanoscales.AnewPMmethod,
CF-HIP, with a removable space holder, is utilized to fabricate 3D
macroporousTi-basedmetalscaffoldswithadjustableporousstruc-
tures. Cell culture results show that these metal scaffolds produced
by CF-HIP have good cytocompatibility and are suitable for cell in-
growth. Short-term
in vivo
implantation indicates that this macro-
porous structure of Ti-based metal scaffolds favors bone tissue
in-growth. A facile hydrothermal process is effective in treating
the entire exposed surface of the scaffolds due to its non-line-of-
sight nature. Furthermore, the hydrothermal reaction between the
Ti-based metal scaffolds and a concentrated alkaline solution can
easily induce the formation of 1D titanate nanowires/nanobelts
on the exposed surface, mimicking the hierarchical organization of
human bones on the lowest level. These hydrophilic 1D titanate
nanowires/nanobeltsfavorcellattachmentandproliferation.Before
the clinical application of these nano Ti-based metal scaffolds, two
key problems must be solved. The first one is how to precisely con-
trolthegrowthdirection,nanosize,andnanoshape.Thesecondone
istounderstandtheinterfacialstructuresoastocontrolthebonding
strength between the surface 1D nanophase materials and Ti-based
metal scaffolds to avoid debris shed from the nanophase materials.
It is also essential to carry out pertinent
in vivo
animal evaluations
toinvestigatetheeffectsofthesenanophasematerialsonthegrowth
of bonetissues.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants
Council (RGC) General Research Funds (GRF), Grant nos. City U
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