Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

The Synthesis, Characterization, And Cell Seeding Of A Collagen/Hydroxyapatite Porous Scaffold For Treatment Of Osseous Defects, Kim Rachel Patterson

All Theses

The need for finding a bone graft substitute stems from the fact that approximately 200,000 bone grafting procedures are performed annually in the U.S. alone. Although biological grafting options (i.e. autografts & allografts) exist, they do suffer from inherent problems. These include limited resources, costly processing, and potential for pathogen transfer. Thus, investigators have sought synthetic alternatives.

The objective of this research was to utilize hydroxyapatite (HA) and collagen, both analogues to the major constituents of bone, to fabricate an optimal synthetic osteoconductive/osteoinductive bone scaffold. Current attempts by other investigators to combine the two materials have been met with some …