Macroporous hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications: Physicochemical characterization and assessment of rat bone marrow stromal cells viability

In this work, a new methodology is reported
for developing hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds using an
organic sacrifice template. The novelty of work consists of
possibility of obtaining porous and highly interconnected
scaffolds mimicking the sacrificial component. Our purpose
consisted of evaluating the physicochemical properties
of the HA scaffolds by means of Fourier transform
infra-red spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) attached with an Xray
detector. The HA scaffolds obtained possess a porosity
of
70%, and macropores diameter in the range of
50–600 lm. In contrast, results regarding the microcomputed
tomography analysis have demonstrated both high
pore uniformity and interconnectivity across the scaffolds.
The compressive strength of the HA scaffolds was found
to be 30.2 6 6.0 MPa. Bioactivity of the HA scaffolds was
assessed by immersion into a simulated body fluid solution,
in vitro. SEM observations have showed a deposition
of apatite on the surface of the HA scaffolds, with a ‘‘cauliflower-
like’’ morphology after 1 day, and tend to be
more pronounced with the immersion time.