Radio Opaque Cements and Osteoclast Testing: Traceable Bio-Remodellable Cements

Determination of the critical control parameters behind generation of a particle stabilised foam

This project is investigating the hypothesis that in a ceramic slip system comprising apatite powder suspended in a dilute aqueous solution of a water soluble polymer, foam stability and morphology are dependent on particle surface physio-chemistry and geometry through the influence these parameters have on fluid mechanics and surface tension.

KTP with Lucideon: Cell testing to assist development of novel biomaterials

The aim of this programme is to transfer and embed knowledge of in vitro cell testing from QMUL to Lucideon to enable them to offer clients integrated physico-chemical and biological characterisation of materials used in medical devices & implants to improve the safety & efficacy of healthcare treatments.

Bioresorbable bioactive composites Kick off

Development of mechanically enhanced osteoinductive synthetic bone graft substitutes

The aim of this project is to develop and test a series of bone graft substitutes with novel pore structures using a perfusion based bioreactor system with flow to waste and closed loop capabilities, that is also able to subject real bone graft substitute granules to direct mechanical perturbation. This system has been validated using human mesenchymal stem cells seeded on BGS with varied strut porosity and will be further optimised to enable screening of new structures.

Investigation of chemotaxis in modulating smart behaviour in synthetic bone graft substitutes

Silicate substituted apatite bone grafts have an enhanced capacity to stimulate bone regeneration. Moreover, altering the level of strut porosity has the capacity to confer osteoinductive behaviour to these graft materials. The aim of this project is to investigate whether these phenomena are related to more efficient cell recruitment and tasking, through (i) exchange of Ca, PO4 and SiO4 ions, and/or (ii) optimal sequestering and enrichment of native signalling molecules.

Flexible Innovation Starter Award

X-Ray microtomography of bone repair within bone graft substitutes

X-ray micro computed tomography (XMT) is a powerful tool for obtaining high resolution images of bone growing within synthetic bone graft substitute scaffolds with the aim of investigating and quantifying the effect the different grafts have on the bone that forms within the graft. However, before the bone structure and volume can be quantified, the images produced need to accurately segmented into their different regions. The aim of this project was to develop an automated operator independent method of segmenting XMT images to enable quantification of bone regeneration and graft remodelling in 3D.

Innovation Fund: Relief of Back Pain

Bioactive bioresorbable composites for load bearing guided bone regeneration

The Synergistic Effect of Bone Graft Scaffold Architecture and Mechanical Environment on hMSCs Responses in vitro

This ambitious project aims to develop a system to monitor cell response and ionic exchange within a 3D flow perfusion environment to enable evaluation of the performance of ‘real’ bone graft substitute scaffold granules packed into a perfusion chamber in vitro.

Development of a 3D Perfusion System to Monitor Response of Osteoblast-like Cells Incubated on Synthetic Bone Graft Substitute Granules with Varied Hierarchical Porosities under Dynamic Conditions

The aim of this thesis was to develop an in vitro system with which to characterise ionic exchange and monitor cell response to real granular synthetic bone graft substitute materials with a hierarchical pore structure, within a truly 3D environment to enable systematic investigation of the mechanisms by which scaffold structure can impact on graft bioactivity.

The Role of Chemistry and Strut Porosity and the Influence of Serum Proteins in Modulating Cellular Response to Bone Graft Substitutes

The objective of this investigation was to study the role of hydroxyapatite and silicate-substituted hydroxyapatite synthetic bone graft substitute (SBG) material properties in modulating the processes of protein adsorption and desorption, and their combined role in the subsequent regulation of cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation on the surfaces of these materials in vitro.

X-Ray microtomography of bone repair within bone graft substitutes

Investigation of the use of the high resolution MuCat XMT scanner which enables non-destructive visualisation of the individual struts of cancellous bone and ceramic sponge while the attenuation sensitivity enables the ceramic to be easily distinguished from the bone tissue. This technology enables medical researchers to determine in 3 dimensions the …

Use of novel fluorescent probes to monitor Protein interactions with medical devices

This programme of work involved development of a method to facilitate the competitive evaluation of protein adsorption to dense and porous apatites via covalent labelling of the species of interest with a fluorescent probe so that it may be monitored independently of other protein species in the local environment. Fluoresceinthiureidoaminocaproic …

Simulation of strain fields in bone grafts with multi-scale porosity to investigate guided bone regeneration

The aim of this project is to develop and validate a multiscale 3D model for porous ceramic scaffolds with a hierarchical pore structure, in order to test the hypothesis that the phenomenon of osteoinductivity in synthetic bone grafts is mediated by local biomechanics. The model would be validated using empirical ...

Investigation into the effect of surface physiochemistry on protein adsorption to stoichiometric and silicate substituted microporous hydroxyapatites

An important factor in the bioactivity and success of a bone graft substitute is the nature of the adsorbed protein layer which plays a vital role in orchestrating cell attachment and development through the presence of adhesion proteins such as fibronectin (Fn) and vitronectin (Vn)). In this study, microporous HA …

Effect of Silicate substitution level on Bioactivity of silicate substituted apatites

Bone mineral has a similar crystallographic structure to hydroxyapatite (HA), a hydrated calcium phosphate with a chemical formula of Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 and a Ca:P ratio of 5:3 (1.67). However bone mineral differs from HA in that it is characterised by calcium, phosphate and hydroxyl deficiency (reported Ca:P ratios of 1.37…