Comprehensive study through imaging techniques of the degradation of a resorbable calcium sulphate-based composite bone cement
Ilaria Corvaglia,
Ghayadah Alkharusi,
Federica Banche-Niclot,
Antonio Manca,
Tanya J. Levingstone,
Suzanne Little,
Sonia Fiorilli,
Nicholas Dunne,
Chiara Vitale-Brovarone
Affiliations
Ilaria Corvaglia
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Ghayadah Alkharusi
Centre for Medical Engineering Research, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, D09 NA55, Dublin, Ireland
Federica Banche-Niclot
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Antonio Manca
Department of Radiology, Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, 10060 Torino, Italy
Tanya J. Levingstone
Centre for Medical Engineering Research, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, D09 NA55, Dublin, Ireland; Biodesign Europe, Dublin City University, D09 NA55 Dublin, Ireland
Suzanne Little
School of Computing, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Sonia Fiorilli
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy; National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology, RU Politecnico di Torino, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Nicholas Dunne
Centre for Medical Engineering Research, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, D09 NA55, Dublin, Ireland; Biodesign Europe, Dublin City University, D09 NA55 Dublin, Ireland
Chiara Vitale-Brovarone
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy; National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology, RU Politecnico di Torino, 50121 Firenze, Italy; Corresponding author.
The stabilization and treatment of vertebral compression fractures via vertebroplasty procedure foresees the injection of bone cements and recent research is focused on the use of degradable cements featuring an appropriate degradation kinetics. This study presents an investigation into the degradation behaviour of a resorbable ceramic composite cement based on calcium sulphate hemihydrate (CSH), supplemented with strontium-containing mesoporous bioactive glasses (Sr-MBG) and zirconia nanoparticles (ZrO2). The alterations in the material's microstructure resulting from the degradation process were thoroughly analysed using two image analysis techniques. Micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) was employed for scanning, while CT-An software associated with the instrument and a Python-coded image analysis tool were utilised to assess porosity and pore size distribution over time. Comparative analysis of the obtained results demonstrated the efficacy of both techniques in comprehensively understanding the internal microstructural changes and volume variations during the degradation of the ceramic composite cement.
