New Composite Bone Cement Based on Hydroxyapatite and Nanosilver

Abstract

Although total joint replacement surgery has become common in recent years, problems due to bacterial infection remain a significant complication following this procedure. One approach in our study was to obtain a self-cured bone cement based on hydroxyapatite with nanosilver (Hap-Ag) and ZrO2 and polymer matrix based on 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)-phenyl]propane/triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate. New materials were tested for: in vitro silver release, compressive strength (CS), compressive modulus (CM), and radiopacity. In vitro silver release increased in time and depended of silver content in cement. The highest silver release was registered for the cement with 1.26 wt% silver content. The results reveal that the CS for bone cement was between 133.37 and 146.70 MPa and CM was between 1.68 and 1.82 GPa (p > 0.05). A slow increasing of CM was registered for samples with 1.5/1 powder/liquid ratio. Addition of nanosilver and ZrO2 increased radiopacity of experimental bone cement.