Friday 19th of April 2024
Human bone ingrowth into a porous tantalum acetabular cup
Research Area: | Thermodynamics | Year: | 2017 |
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Type of Publication: | Article | Keywords: | porous tantalum; bone ingrowth; acetabular cup; osteointegration; tantalum scaffold |
Authors: |
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Journal's impact factor: | 1.14 | ||
Abstract: | Porous Tantalum is increasingly used as a structural scaffold in orthopaedic applications.
Information on the mechanisms of human bone ingrowth into trabecular metal implants is rather
limited. In this work we have studied, qualitatively, human bone ingrowth into a retrieved porous
tantalum monoblock acetabular cup using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and
energy dispersive X-ray analysis. According to the results and taking into account the short
operational life (4 years) of the implant, bone ingrowth on the acetabular cup took place in the first
two-rows of porous tantalum cells to an estimated depth of 1.5 to 2 mm. The bone material, grown
inside the first raw of cells, had almost identical composition with the attached bone on the cup
surface, as verified by the same Ca:P ratio. Bone ingrowth has been a gradual process starting with
Ca deposition on the tantalum struts, followed by bone formation into the tantalum cells, with
gradual densification of the bone tissue into hydroxyapatite. A critical step in this process has been
the attachment of bone material to the tantalum struts following the topology of the porous tantalum
scaffold. These results provide insight to the human bone ingrowth process into porous tantalum
implants. |
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