COATING OF HYDROXYAPATITE ON POLYETHERETHERKETONE FABRIC BAG FOR THE APPLICATION TO SPINAL COMPRESSION FRACTURE TREATMENT

Abstract

A balloon kyphoplasty is a surgery treatment of vertebral compression fractures, which includes operations of incision / opening into the fractured bone, insertion / inflation of balloon to correct the fracture deformity, removal of balloon to create the cavity and the injection of bone cement into the cavity. As an alternative material of balloon which can stay in vertebral without removal, we examined the utilization of hydroxyapatite (Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂: HAp)-coated polyetheretherketone (PEEK) fabric bag for the enhancement of the bone connection. The coating conditions were optimized as follows: (i) 80 vol% H₂SO₄ treatment at 40°C for 5 min (surface roughening), (ii) vacuum-ultraviolet irradiation for 120 min (hydrophilicity enhancement) and (iii) 20 dipping–withdrawing-drying cycles, using HAp-dissolved solution (enhancement of biocompatibility). The bone paste of Biopex-R® kneaded with human blood could be injected into the fabric bag without leaking, indicating the HAp-coated PEEK fabric being applicable to the surgery operation of kyphoplasty.