Hydroxyapatite formation in the molecularly alinged chitosan-application for nerve regeneration guide tube

Abstract

Chitin and chitosan have been widely used as biocompatible and biodegradable materials. A tendon of crab is composed of highly aligned crystalline chitin. On the other hand, hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been used as an artificial bone because of its biocompatibility. If the composite of the crystalline chitosan and HAp is developed, it should have both high intensity and excellent biocompatibility. In this paper, the formation of HAp nano-crystallites on the crystalline chitosan derived from crab tendons was studied as a function of thermal treatment.