Abstract
Annually, thousands of people suffer from defects in bone tissues, resulting from poor congenital formations, tumors or fractures of poor prognosis, fatally culminating in cases of pseudarthrosis or osteomyelitis. The treatment of these types of pathologies occurs through a surgical act aimed at the mechanical removal of the affected tissues, followed by the application of bone grafts alone or in conjunction with a gradual bone transport procedure, using external fixators, in order to reestablish the shape and function of the injured tissue through a process of bone reconstruction. In more complex cases, with large losses of bone tissue in patients with limited osteogenic potential, the application of alloplastic grafts is an interesting alternative to the autogenous graft, since it does not involve morbidity of the graft donor site, besides allowing greater diversity of formats, without limitations on the amount of material to be grafted, in order to completely fill the bone defect of the patient. The present research project proposes the development of a family of bone grafts, comprising commercial presentations both in the form of granules and in porous matrices. In this work, the scaffolds will be manufactured from a bioabsorbable composite with bioactive characteristics, through the use of bioactive vitreous ceramics, synthesized by the Sol-gel method, together with absorbable polymers. To obtain grafts with these characteristics the research team will synthesize bioactive glasses by sol-gel, mixing them with an absorbable polymer matrix in order to generate a three-dimensional structure of controlled porosity. In this work, several parameters of the processes will be varied, such as bioglass microstructure, content between matrix and bioactive load and pore content. The materials will be evaluated both in-vitro and in-vivo throughout the research, thus ensuring optimized characteristics for bone reconstruction procedures. After completing the present development, SELAZ will be the first national company to produce a class of bone grafts, instituted by absorbable polymer (PLA) and bioactive glass obtained by sol-gel, enabling significant cost reductions for insurance companies and enabling a treatment for thousands of patients. (AU)