Artificial bone of porous tricalcium phosphate ceramics and its preliminary clinical application.

The authors have prepared the artificial bone of porous tricalcium phosphate ceramics according to an appropriate formula and manufacturing technology. Physical and chemical testing shows that it possesses several distinguishing features: the communicating pores and macro/micropores; mean pore size, 380 microns (from 240 microns to 510 microns); porosity, 46.4%; and compressive strength, 97.4 kg/cm2. It consists of CaO (49.09%) and P2O5 (48.84%). The testing of its biocompatibility shows that it is devoid of systemic or local toxicity, and free of irritation or foreign body response in tissues, and it does not result in hemolysis or mutation. The new bone readily grows into its pores with direct contact to the implanted material. 11 cases of bone defects were treated with this artificial bone with satisfactory results.