In orthopedic surgery bony defects remains a challenge. In generally autologous or heterologous bony transplants can be used. Main problem is the limited amount of bone and donor site morbidity. Nowadays excellent implants and scaffolds at low costs are necessary in respect to the financial problems in our health care system and the strong financial limitations in clinical medicine. Recently a biomimetic approach, in which a porous synthetic bone substitute with properties similar to these of trabecular bone has been developed (VITOFOAM TM ). Aim of our study was to investigate whether cp-Ti or Ti6Al4V or stainless steel (316L) porous metal implants achieve material properties comparable to bone.
Materials and MethodsThree cp-Ti, Ti6Al4Vand stainless steel (316L) porous metal specimen each with a pore size of 150 to 600 lm have been tested in respect to determine the Young's Modulus E (GPa), Compression Strength (MPa) and Porosity (%) under axial compression.
ResultsYoung's Modulus of the cp-Ti samples was in the range of 1.2 to 2.8 GPa, for Ti6Al4V 2.3 to 4.1 GPa could be achieved. Compression Strength for cp-Ti and Ti6Al4V ranged from 30 to 65 MPa with porosity values ranged from 71 to 80 %.
DiscussionThe highly porous nature of VITOFOAM TM combined with the good biocompatibility of cp-Ti or Ti6Al4V and the mechanical properties make these materials ideal bone scaffolds. Trabecular bone shows pore sizes of 300 -1500 lm, Young'
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