Porous calcium aluminate ceramics for bone-graft applications

Calcium aluminate scaffolds with controlled porosity were processed for bone-graft applications. Indirect fused deposition process was used to fabricate these structures. Phase analyses were done using x-ray diffraction technique on powdered samples of calcium aluminates at different compositions. Hg porosimetry was used to determine the pore sizes and the pore volumes present in these controlled porosity structures at different calcium aluminate compositions. Cylindrical samples were tested under uniaxial compressive loading as a function of composition and volume fraction porosity (VFP). Samples of 29% and 44% VFP (designed) with average pore size of 300 μm showed compressive strength between 2 and 24 MPa. Cytotoxicity and cell proliferation studies were conducted with a modified human osteoblast cell line (HOB). These materials showed good cell attachment and a steady cell growth behavior with HOB cells during the first three weeks of in vitro analyses.