抄録
Combination of two or more materials has been and can be a potential strategy to design and develop new biomaterials. For ages, glass ionomer cement and hydroxyapatite-coated titanium implants have been good examples. This article describes other new polymer-ceramic composite biomaterials which have been evidenced to show better efficacy; poly (ethylene terephthalate) coated with gelatin and low crystallinity hydroxyapatite for guided bone regeneration (PET membrane), calcium phosphate cement (CPC) with controlled setting behavior, and gelatin-coated β-TCP scaffold with enhanced mechanical strength and cytocompatibility. In vivo tests of PET membrane showed that the membrane promoted new bone formation, which was supported by in vitro tests evidencing the proliferation and calcification of osteoblasts on the PET membrane. Control of the setting behavior CPC has long been a challenge. The authors coated tetra calcium phosphate, one of the components of CPC, with gelatin because the setting liquid containing gelatin undergoes reversible sol-gel transition at a temperature between room temperature and body temperature. Gelled gelatin retards the setting reactions to proceed whereas gelatin sol does not hinder the reactions to take place. As the result, the CPC paste showed fluidity for 60 minutes at room temperature while set within 3 minutes at the body temperature. Reinforcement of porous β-TCP scaffolds has also been longed for. The authors coated porous β-TCP with gelatin, and prepared scaffolds with 92 % porosity and compressive strength of 5.1 MPa. The gelatin coating also improved in vivo cytocompatibility.
