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Porous Titanium‐6 Aluminum‐4 Vanadium Cage Has Better Osseointegration and Less Micromotion Than a Poly‐Ether‐Ether‐Ketone Cage in Sheep Vertebral Fusion
Author(s) -
Wu SuHua,
Li Yi,
Zhang YongQuan,
Li XiaoKang,
Yuan ChaoFan,
Hao YuLin,
Zhang ZhiYong,
Guo Zheng
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
artificial organs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.684
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1525-1594
pISSN - 0160-564X
DOI - 10.1111/aor.12153
Subject(s) - peek , osseointegration , cage , polyether ether ketone , materials science , porosity , titanium , spinal fusion , elastic modulus , composite material , biomedical engineering , implant , surgery , polymer , structural engineering , medicine , metallurgy , engineering
Interbody fusion cages made of poly‐ether‐ether‐ketone ( PEEK ) have been widely used in clinics for spinal disorders treatment; however, they do not integrate well with surrounding bone tissue. T i‐6 A l‐4 V ( T i) has demonstrated greater osteoconductivity than PEEK , but the traditional T i cage is generally limited by its much greater elastic modulus (110 GPa ) than natural bone (0.05–30 GPa ). In this study, we developed a porous T i cage using electron beam melting ( EBM ) technique to reduce its elastic modulus and compared its spinal fusion efficacy with a PEEK cage in a preclinical sheep anterior cervical fusion model. A porous T i cage possesses a fully interconnected porous structure (porosity: 68 ± 5.3%; pore size: 710 ± 42 μm) and a similar Y oung's modulus as natural bone (2.5 ± 0.2 GPa ). When implanted in vivo, the porous T i cage promoted fast bone ingrowth, achieving similar bone volume fraction at 6 months as the PEEK cage without autograft transplantation. Moreover, it promoted better osteointegration with higher degree (2‐10x) of bone‐material binding, demonstrated by histomorphometrical analysis, and significantly higher mechanical stability ( P < 0.01), shown by biomechanical testing. The porous T i cage fabricated by EBM could achieve fast bone ingrowth. In addition, it had better osseointegration and superior mechanical stability than the conventional PEEK cage, demonstrating great potential for clinical application.