Abstract

The need for reconstructing complex bone defects in the maxillofacial region as a result of trauma, tumor surgery or congenital malformation has become a hot topic in the field of tissue engineering. Tools such as 3D computer aided design (CAD) systems and rapid prototyping (RP) machines can be exploited to fabricate custom made bone scaffolds. RP techniques allow the construction of complex physical models based on 3D clinical images elaborated by suitable software and CAD systems. Hydroxyapatite (HA) is one of the most commonly used materials for bone reconstruction because of its close similarity in composition to human bone and teeth. Thus, producing a custom-made scaffold from a ceramic material directly by RP represents an exciting challenge. The aim of this paper is the development of a suspension of HA powder dispersed in an UV curable epoxy based resin, suitable for stereolithography (SLA). The influence of different HA concentrations within the ceramic suspension on the kinetics of the photochemical reaction was firstly investigated. The rheological behavior of the same ceramic suspensions was also analyzed by verifying the effect of HA on the viscosity and the stability of the suspensions as a function of the shear rate and the time from preparation. After the selection of a suitable suspension, simple green ceramic bars built by stereolithography and sintered with an appropriate thermal cycle, were built and characterized, showing good mechanical properties. A complex prototype, starting from a CAD model, was finally built by a SLA apparatus

Autore Pugliese

• Esposito Corcione Carola , Maffezzoli Alfonso , Sannino Alessandro , Scalera Francesca

Tutti gli autori

• F. Scalera , C. Esposito Corcione , F. Montagna , A. Sannino , A. Maffezzoli

Titolo volume/Rivista

CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL

Anno di pubblicazione

2014

ISSN

0272-8842

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

13

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

28/04/2018

Numero di citazioni Scopus

15

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

24/04/2018

Settori ERC

Non Disponibile

Codici ASJC

Non Disponibile