Abstract:
Osseointegration of orthopedic implants can be improved by enhancing the bioactivity of
a biocompatible material. In this study, porous titanium was employed as an orthopedic
implant. It was infiltrated with gelatin-sodium alginate hydrogel loaded with strontiumdoped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles which were intended to be released to enhance
osseointegration. Titanium implants were fabricated by arc melting a filler metal into
titanium metal, followed by electrochemical dealloying to create foams. Strontium-doped
hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were synthesized by the wet-precipitation method while
hydrogel was crosslinked by physical crosslinking through calcium ions. Microstructural
analysis was performed to confirm the synthesis of the fabricated nanoparticles, hydrogels,
and nanoparticles-loaded hydrogels. Functional groups were observed for further
confirmation of synthesis. Release of strontium-doped hydroxyapatite from the hydrogel
and the foam was performed through UV-visible spectroscopy. The gelatin-sodium
alginate blend hydrogel was found to degrade at physiological conditions releasing the
nanoparticles. The initial burst release was 56% from the hydrogel film while it was
reduced to 32% when the hydrogel was infiltrated in the titanium foam. Complete release
of nanoparticles was observed to take place in 10 days from the hydrogel film while
infiltration in foam caused 40% of the nanoparticles to be released in the same time period.
