Poly(vinylalcohol)/Hydroxiapatite Hydrogels Obtained by Two Differents Techniques: Characterization and Swelling Studies

JIMENA SOLEDAD GONZALEZ; YANINA MINABERRY; VERA ALEJANDRA ALVAREZ

Mar del Plata

Congreso; XVIII congreso argentino de Bioingeniería. VII Jornadas de Ingeniería Clínica. 2º Taller de Órganos Artificiales, Biomateriales e Ingeniería de Tejidos; 2011

The applications of Poly (vinylalcohol)/hydroxiapatite hydrogels (PVA/HA) have been extended tothe replacement of diseased or damaged articular cartilage due to its good physicochemical andespecially tribological properties. The main objective of this work was to obtain and comparePVA/HA hydrogels with “in situ” generated HA by two different techniques: freezing/ thawing(F/T), and ISISA (ice-segregation-induced self-assembly). For this purpose, morphological,chemical, thermal, mechanical and swelling analyses were carried out.The F/T method consists on: freezing (-18ºC) a solution of PVA with Ca(OH)2 and H3PO4(stochiometric ratio to precipitate HA) and thawing this solution (25ºC), repeating the F/T cycle 3times in order to crosslink the polymer.The ISISA process involves the submission of an aqueous gel, solution or suspension to liquidnitrogen temperatures and subsequent sublimation. The controlled ice formation drives thesegregation of every solute or colloid originally dispersed in the aqueous phase towards the zones in which the ice is absent, giving rise to areas where the ice resided before sublimation, resulting in an organized 3D scaffold. The results indicate that PVA/HA by F/T exhibits mechanical and swelling characteristics suitable for the use as articular cartilage replacement. In addition, the scaffold obtained by ISISA revealed the influence of the freezing rate on the final morphology, mechanical and swelling properties.Finally, similar studies will be carried out for scaffolds obtained by the combination of both techniques.