Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 14.4.
Bonemimeticgelatin-20%apatitenanofiber.TEMinvestiga-
tionoftheorganizationofhydroxyapatiteinthegelatinmatrix(ahydroxya-
patite crystalline pattern was revealed in the inset) (adapted with permis-
sion from Ref. 33; 2005 Wiley-VCHVerlag GmbH &Co.).
hydrophilic inorganic components significantly. The common sol-
vents for dissolving synthetic polymers were also not effective
for the dispersion of inorganic nanoparticles. Using ultrafine-sized
CaCO
3
particles(
∼
40nminsize),PCL-CaCO
3
compositefiberscould
be produced.
36
The composite fibers showed favorable osteoblastic
adhesion and growth and were suggested as a guided bone regen-
eration membrane. Our recent work has used a surfactant (fatty
acid) to homogenize the hydroxyapatite nanoparticles that were
obtained by a sol-gel method within a PLA-chloroform solution.
37
The amphiphilic nature of the surfactant was suggested to act as
a mediator at the interface of the hydroxyapatite nanocrystallites
andoilphase(PLA-chloroform).Fibersofafewmicrometersinsize
were produced without the formation of beads, and the hydroxya-
patite nanocrystallites were observed to be dispersed well within
the PLA matrix. The composite fiber showed to enhance the growth
and differentiation of osteoblastic cells with respect to pure PLA
fibers. Conclusively, the nanofibers made from polymer-inorganic
composites are believed to stimulate the biological events of bone-
associatedcells,suchascelladhesionandosteogenicdifferentiation.
To realize this, homogenous dispersion of inorganics within poly-
meric solution is considered of special importance, which leads to
obtaininga bead-free nanofibrousmatrix.
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