Engineering Bioactive Polymers for the Next Generation of Bone RepairTable of Contents

List of Tables  viii
List of Figures  ix
Abstract xii
1. Introduction 1
2. Background 2
2.1. Human Bone  2
2.1.1. Structural and Material Properties of Bone  3
2.1.2. Mechanical Properties of Bone  4
2.1.3. Bone Cells  6
2.1.4. Bone Regeneration  7
2.2. Bone Replacements 8
2.2.1. Motivation  8
2.2.2. Requirements of Bone Replacement  9
2.3. Natural Bone Replacement  11
2.4. Synthetic Bone Replacement  14
2.4.1. Calcium Phosphate Materials and Bioactive Glasses 14
2.4.2. Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable Polymers 16
2.4.3. Ceramics / Polymer Composite 19
2.5. Tissue Engineered Scaffold  23
2.6. Injectable Materials 24
2.6.1. Polymeric Injectable Materials 24
2.6.2. Ceramic Injectable Materials 26
2.6.3. Injectable Composite Materials 27
3. Research Goals 33
4. An Solid Bioactive Polymeric Composites: HA/PMMA  35
4.1. Introduction 35
4.2. Materials and Methods 38
4.2.1. Material Processing  38
4.2.2. Bending Tests  39
4.2.3. Compression Test  39
4.2.4. Physicochemical Analysis 40
4.2.5. Nano-indentation  41
4.2.6. Data Analysis  43
4.3. Results 43
4.3.1. Global Bending Behavior 43
4.3.2. Local Mechanical Properties of HA 44
4.3.3. Local Interfacial Mechanical Properties 44
4.3.4. Surface Bioactivity  46
4.3.5. In vitro Global Elastic Mechanical Behavior  46
4.3.6. In vitro Interfacial Mechanical Properties 47
4.4. Discussion 48
4.5. Conclusion  55
5. An Alternative Approach to Bone Replacement  79
5.1. Introduction 79
5.2. Hydrogels 80
5.3. Poly(N-isopropylacryamide)  81
5.4. Preliminary Studies 83
5.4.1. PNIPAAm Co-polymer  83
5.4.2. Mechanical Properties of PNIPAAm-based Hydrogels  84
5.4.3. Bioactive Material Component  84
5.4.4. Phase Transformation 86
5.4.5. Rigid Polymer Supplement  87
5.4.6. Polymerization Kinetics  88
5.5. Summary  88
6. An injectable Bioactive Hydrogel Composite  97
6.1. Introduction 97
6.2. Materials and Methods 100
6.2.1. Synthesis PNIPAAm-MPS-PEGDM  100
6.2.2. Polymer Characterization  100
6.2.3. LCST Determination  101
6.2.4. Injectability and Viscosity Studies  101
6.2.5. Change in Volume Estimation  102
6.2.6. Bioactivity Characterization 102
6.2.7. In vitro Compressive Test  103
6.3. Results 104
6.3.1. Physical Properties  104
6.3.2. Bioactivity Kinetics 106
6.3.3. In vitro Mechanical Properties  108
6.4. Discussion 108
6.5. Conclusion  115
7. Future Work 131
8. Novel Contributions 133
List of References  135
Vita 152