Porous poly(α-hydroxyacid)/Bioglass® composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.: I:: preparation and in vitro characterisation

Highly porous composites scaffolds of Poly-D,L-lactide (PDLLA) and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) containing different amounts (10, 25 and 50 wt%) of bioactive glass (45S5 Bioglass(R)) were prepared by thermally induced solid-liquid phase separation (TIPS) and subsequent solvent sublimation. The addition of increasing amounts of Bioglass(R) into the polymer foams decreased the pore volume. Conversely, the mechanical properties of the polymer materials were improved. The composites were incubated in phosphate buffer saline at 37degreesC to study the in vitro degradation of the polymer by measurement of water absorption, weight loss as well as changes in the average molecular weight of the polymer and in the pH of the incubation medium as a function of the incubation time. The addition of Bioglass(R) to polymer foams increased the water absorption and weight loss compared to neat polymer foams. However, the polymer molecular weight, determined by size exclusion chromatography, was found to decrease more rapidly and to a larger extent in absence of Bioglass(R). The presence of the bioactive filler was therefore found to delay the degradation rate of the polymer as compared to the neat polymer foams. Formation of hydroxyapatite on the surface of composites, as an indication of their bioactivity, was recorded by EDXA, X-ray diffractometry and confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.