Bone grafting, the surgical procedure used to replace bone to aid the healing process, has been used to fill bone defects for the last century, most commonly as autografts or allografts. There is growing attention to the use of poly(α–hydroxyacids) in synthetic biomaterial composites, which transfer load gradually to the surrounding tissue whilst guiding new bone formation and eliminating the need for a secondary surgery. In order to match the properties of poly(α–hydroxyacids) to those of bone, it is necessary to produce carefully designed composites combining these bioresorbable polymers with a suitable calcium phosphate. To this end, a large number of bioceramics have been incorporated into these polymer matrices. This presentation will examine the mechanical and degradation properties of different calcium phosphate/biodegradable polymer composites.
About the Speaker: Duygu Ege has a PhD in Medical Materials from University of Cambridge and a MEng degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Imperial College,
London. Her research so far concentrated on biomaterials including bioceramics and polymer based composites for non-load bearing and load bearing bone replacement
applications.