Evaluation of strontium introduced apatite cement as the injectable bone substitute developments

We have developed bone cement introducing Strontium (Sr) to promote early bone regeneration. To prolong the release duration of Sr, we applied inorganic Sr filler for containing into the cement powder. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the mechanical properties, crystallinic properties, and ion release activities, especially Sr anion, of this cement. Alpha-TCP powder was mixed with Sr filler, with 0.1wt%, 0.5wt%, 1.0wt%, and 5.0wt%. These were mixed with mixing liquid and formed for each test. They were incubated and crystalized in 95% moisture for 1 week. The mechanical properties were studied by the compression, the diametral tensile strength and 4-point vending. Tested specimens were evaluated by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopic(SEM) imaging. The ion release behaviors were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS). The mechanical properties were increased in consistency of filler, but decreased in some samples because of declining the apatite matrix. And the Sr release showed interesting results as the sequential resource of Sr. By adjusting the mixing ratio or considering the application of these Sr releasable cements, this material would show good performance by its strength and longer Sr release for bone regeneration.