Comparative assessment of the physical structure of antler and bovine bone substitutes: An in vitro study

Abstract

Background. The use of bone graft materials has significantly increased. Given the inherent variations in structure and functionality between different grafting materials, this evaluated and compared the physical attributes of antler and bovine femur bone substitutes. Methods. In the present in vitro investigation, the surface morphological architecture of the two bone substitutes with different origins was assessed through scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) technique was employed to measure the porosity, specific surface area (SSA), and pore morphology. Results. Scanning electron microscopy observations indicated that the surface of the bovine particles appeared smoother, while the antler particles exhibited a rougher surface texture. The BET analysis revealed that both samples exhibited identical pore morphology. The SSA was 15.974 m2 /g in the antler particles compared with 18.404 m2 /g in the bovine sample. The total porosity volume in the antler and bovine femur bone substitutes were 0.2172 cm3 /g and 0.2918 cm3 /g, respectively. Additionally, the antler particles had a porosity percentage of 40%, whereas the bovine femur bone substitute showed a porosity percentage of 43.5%. Conclusion. Based on the results of this study, it seems that the two samples of bone grafting materials have comparable physical structures.

Keywords

• biocompatible materials
• bone substitutes
• physical phenomena