A novel ultra-porous titanium dioxide ceramic with excellent biocompatibility.

The current study compares biocompatibility, cell growth and morphology, pore diameter distribution, and interconnectivity of a novel titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) bone graft substitute granules with three different commercially available bone graft granules Natix, Straumann BoneCeramic, and Bio-Oss. Human primary mesenchymal stem cells were cultured on the bone graft substitutes and cell viability and proliferation were evaluated after 1 and 3 days. The microstructural properties of the bone graft substitutes were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, micro-computed tomography analysis, and mechanical testing. The cell viability and proliferation, porosity, interconnectivity, open pore size, and surface area-to-volume ratio of TiO(2) granules were significantly higher than commercial bone granules (Bio-Oss and Straumann BoneCeramic).