[Atelocollagen/hydroxylapatite composite material as bone defect filler in an experiment on rats]

Many types of biomaterials are used as skeletal bone fillers in reconstructive surgery. An attention is paid to hydroxyapatite due to its high biocompatibility with the surrounding tissue. The paper deals with the testing of new collagen/hydroxyapatite composite material applied to the bone defect on os parietale of rats. The composite material was prepared from the bovine atelocollagen dispersion and the dispersion of hydroxyapatite. Collagen serves as a matrix in which the particles of hydroxyapatite are anchored. The composite presents the advantage that after the saturation with physiological solution it is compact and can be shaped. The composite material was implanted in the form of plate into six male Wistar rats to the ground bed on the surface of os parietale. The implants were taken out after four moths. The macroscopic finding of soft tissue, bones and implants gave evidence about good healing without any undesirable reaction. This was also confirmed by the histological observations. Collagen was resorbed and the rest of the material strongly adhered to the bone. The marked osteocytes were present in the zone of the newly formed bone and the dividing line between new and old bone was clear. The experimental results give preconditions to the clinical use of this new composite implant material the structural improvement of which is in progress. (Fig. 2, Ref. 12.)