POWRE: Bone Cell Ingrowth and Strength Characteristics of Microporous Titanium for Skeletal Repair

0074921 Brinson POWRE计划下的奖项将使PI获得生物工程、生物材料和植入物力学方面的专业知识，以增加她在力学和材料方面的经验。 本研究将开始研究微孔钛（钛泡沫）用作骨植入材料。这项工作有几个动机：首先，当前金属植入物材料和周围骨之间的刚度不匹配可能导致应力遮挡，导致骨吸收和最终植入物失效。开发完全多孔的金属植入物，其中材料被设计成更接近地模拟天然骨特性，这将有助于减少当前植入物中经历的应力遮挡问题。其次，骨水泥失效和骨水泥碎屑也对植入物有不利影响，这可以通过使用多孔/非骨水泥植入物材料来避免。第三，具有可控微结构的完全多孔材料的开发将使得能够设计具有用于组织附着的改进的功能性以及独特地结合其他合成材料（例如，聚合物或陶瓷涂层或表面）。 除了孔隙率水平，孔的形状和方向将明显影响机械性能和细胞向内生长的程度。因此，研究多孔微结构以确定那些将加速和增强骨长入，同时保持机械强度的微结构，将为骨植入物的设计提供关键的新信息，以降低失败率并通过快速植入物整合改善患者的生活质量。 拟定工作将具体涉及 ** 机械测试和有限元分析，以确定钛泡沫样本的刚度和强度特性;以及 ** 对接种骨细胞的钛泡沫样本进行细胞生长研究，并定期检查向内生长情况。*

0074921BrinsonAn award under the POWRE program will enable the PI to gain expertise in bioengineering, biomaterials and implant mechanics to add to her experience in mechanics and materials in general. This research will begin an investigation of microporous titanium (Ti foam) for use as a bone implant material. There are several motivations for this work: First, the stiffness mismatch between current metallic implant materials and the surrounding bone can cause stress-shielding, leading to bone resorption and eventual implant failure. The development of completely porous metallic implants where the material is designed to more closely mimic natural bone properties will help reduce stress shielding problems experienced in current implants. Second, bone cement failure and cement debris also have a detrimental impact on implants, which is avoidable by use of a porous/cementless implant material. Third, development of a fully porous material with controllable microstructure will enable design of implants with improved functionality for tissue attachment as well as unique incorporation of other synthetic materials (e.g., polymer or ceramic coatings or surfaces). In addition to porosity level, pore shape and orientation will clearly affect the mechanical properties and extent of cell ingrowth. Thus, investigation of porous microstructures to identify those which will accelerate and enhance bone ingrowth, while retaining mechanical strength, would provide critical new information for design of bone implants, both to reduce failure rates and to improve quality of life for patients by rapid implant integration. The proposed work will specifically involve **Mechanical testing and finite element analysis to ascertain stiffness and strength properties of the Ti foam samples; and**Cell growth studies performed on Ti foam samples seeded with bone cells and examined at intervals for ingrowth.***