Replacement of the lumbar vertebrae of sheep with ceramic prostheses
- 1 September 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volume
- Vol. 72-B (5) , 889-893
- https://doi.org/10.1302/0301-620x.72b5.2211778
Abstract
We prepared a prosthesis for the replacement of the lumbar vertebrae of sheep, using apatite- and wollastonite-containing glass-ceramic. The material is stronger than human cortical bone and has the special feature of chemical bonding to bone. Ten sheep underwent replacement of L3 and L4 vertebrae, without bone grafting. The animals were killed at intervals from three months to 27 months after operation, and the interface between the prosthesis and bone was examined radiologically, histologically and crystallographically. Bone bonding with the prosthesis had occurred in half the implants. It took at least one year for bonding to be complete, but an apatite layer on the surface of the prosthesis was observed as early as three months after the operation, suggesting the possibility of much earlier bone bonding if more rigid fixation of the prosthesis had been provided.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: