Stainless and Titanium Fibers as Non-degradable Three-dimensional Scaffolds for Bone Reconstruction

Abstract

Stainless steel is used for various medical devices. Titanium is also widely used because of its tight bonding to bone tissue, namely osseointegration. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of three-dimensional stainless steel and titanium porous structure scaffolds by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Stainless steel and titanium fiber materials were designed as non-degradable metallic three-dimensional scaffolds with a three-dimensional porous structure for bone reconstruction. In one in vitro experiment, stainless steel and titanium disks were immersed in simulated body fluid. After immersion, a greater amount of hydroxyapatite precipitation was observed on titanium disks than on stainless steel disks. The crystallographic structure of precipitated hydroxyapatite was confirmed by the measurement of X-ray diffraction patterns. In another in vitro study, the adsorption behavior of fibronectin to stainless steel and titanium was monitored by the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) method, which demonstrated more fibronectin adsorption onto titanium than onto stainless steel. In an in vivo experiment, three-dimensional stainless steel or titanium fibers were implanted into the cortical bone of the tibia of rabbits. Histological and histomorphometrical evaluation revealed a significantly greater amount of bone formation inside the porous area of the titanium fibers after 4 weeks of implantation. The present study also revealed better osteoconductivity of titanium than stainless steel. It is presumed that this was due to the differences in the characteristics of passive film between titanium and stainless steel. Titanium fibers are expected to be useful as a non-resorbable three-dimensional scaffold in bone reconstruction.

Quantitative Analysis of Apatite Formation on Titanium and Zirconia in a Simulated Body Fluid Solution Using the Quartz Crystal Microbalance Method

“…In addition to Kokubo's SBF, Hanawa et al [5,6] proposed Hanks' balanced salt solution (HBSS) without organic species at pH 7.4 as an SBF and found apatite formation on a Ti surface in HBSS. Our group [7][8][9][10] examined apatite deposition on the surface of modified Ti materials, such as thin-apatite-coated or DNA-coated Ti materials, after immersion in SBF and found that better apatite deposition on the biomaterials in HBSS corresponded with better in vivo bone formation. Thus, an SBF immersion experiment is useful for evaluating biocompatibility or tissue responses of biomaterials for hard tissue, which can reduce the number of animals used and the duration of animal experiments.…”

Bone Ingrowth to Ti Fibre Knit Block with High Deformability

“…The tibia of the rabbit was shaved and disinfected with 10% povidone-iodine solution. After anaesthetic and disinfection procedures, a flap was raised, and three bone defects of 3 mm in depth and 3 mm in diameter were drilled in each tibia in imitation of the similar study on the bone scaffolds fabricated by Ti fibre [ 14 ]. The bone defects were randomly designated to the specimen from the three porosities ( Figure 2 ).…”

The Role of Vasculature and Angiogenic Strategies in Bone Regeneration

“…Therefore, the development of artificial bone substitutes using synthetic materials has emerged as a viable alternative. Metals such as titanium, stainless steel, or chromium alloys have been widely used due to their high mechanical strength, wear resistance, and durability [62,63]. However, the non-biodegradable nature of metal implants may require secondary surgery for removal, and their mechanical properties may not match those of the surrounding bone, leading to stress shielding and subsequent bone resorption [64][65][66][67].…”