COMPOSITE FOR BONE CEMENT OR BONE REPLACEMENT

MANY AREAS OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY WOULD BENEFIT FROM AN INJECTABLE,BIOCOMPATIBLE BONE CEMENT OR BONE REPLACEMENT MATERIAL WHICH COULD PROVIDE IMMEDIATE STRUCTURAL REINORCEMENT TO SKELETAL REGIONS AND THEN GRADUALLY BE INCORPORATED INTO HOST BONES. THE HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL BIOMECHAINCS LABORATORY HAS DEVELOPED A PARTICIPATE BONE\ GELATIN COMPOSITE WHICH CURRENTLY UNDERGOING TESTS IN ANIMALS. THIS COMPOSITE HAS APPEALING QUALITIES IN THAT THE MATRIX PHASE BECOMES SLOWLY RESORBED IN THE BODY AS HOSTBONE GROWS INTO THE REPAIR AREA; HOWEVER, ITS MECHANITAL PROPERTIES ARE NOT OPTIMUM AT PRESENT. ITS COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH RANGES FROM 10-15 MPA AND MODULES FROM 50-100 MPA. HIGHER VALUES ARE REQUIRED FOR BOTH CEMENT AND AND BONE REPLACEMENT APPLICATIONS. THIS PROPOSED WORK WILL STUDY A CHOPPED GRAPHITE FIBER\GELATIN COMPOSITE AS A CANDIDATE MATERIAL FOR A BONE REPLACEMENT OR BONE CEMENT MATERIALS. A FABRICATION PROCESS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO MAKE COMPOSITES WITH ISOTHROPIC PROPERTIES FOR MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION TESTING. COMPSITE PROPERTIES WILL BE DETERMINED FROM TENSION, COMPRESSION, AND SHEAR TESTING WHILE THE MICROMECHAICAL BEHAVIOR WILL BE ASSESSED THROUGH SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCPE AND METALLOGRAPH EXAMINATIONS. THIS BASIC PROPERTY INFORMATION WILL, FIRST ESTABLISH FEASIBILITY, AND SECOND, PROVIDE GROUND WORK FOR EXPANDED RESEARCH INVOLVING HOST BONE ENCAPSULATIONOF FIBERS COMPATABILITY AND OTHER TOPICS.