In vitro and in vivo evaluations of 3D porous TCP-coated and non-coated alumina scaffolds.

Both tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and alumina have been extensively studied and shown to have high biocompatibility. Tricalcium phosphate has improved biodegradability and a higher solubility than hydroxyapatite. In contrast, alumina (Al(2)O(3)) is almost completely inert at physiological conditions and has been used as a biomaterial due to its wear resistance, high surface finish, and excellent hardness. Thus, the combination of these two implants would result in greater biocompatibility and phenotype maintenance. A polyurethane (PU) foam replica method was employed in this study to coat TCP on an alumina scaffold. The TCP-coated alumina scaffold was then sintered to generate a porous surface morphology. The pore sizes obtained using this approach ranged between 100-600 µm, which is ideal for cellular proliferation. The cytotoxicity, cellular proliferation, differentiation, and ECM deposition on the coated scaffold resulted in longer-term viability of osteogenic markers compared to the non-coated scaffold. Moreover, the osteogenic properties of porous TCP-coated Al(2)O(3) scaffolds were reported in this study using rabbit models. The TCP/Al(2)O( 3) scaffold and control Al(2)O(3) scaffolds were implanted in the rabbit femur. The bone tissue response was analyzed with micro-computed tomography (micro CT) at 12 and 24 weeks after implantation. The porous scaffolds exhibited favorable hard and soft tissue responses at both time points. At 24 weeks, a three-fold increase in bone tissue ingrowth was observed in defects containing TCP-coated Al(2)O(3) scaffolds compared to control Al(2)O(3) scaffolds.