MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF ZIRCONIUM OXIDE HYBRID MATERIALS

The use of zirconium oxide hybrid materials in tissue-engineering scaffolds, microscale valves, microfluidic devices, drug-screening devices, drug delivery devices, bone prostheses and other medical devices is reviewed. The sol-gel synthesis of such materials is first outlined, and an introduction t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American Ceramic Society bulletin 2011-09, Vol.90 (7), p.24-29
Main Authors: Miller, P R, Ovsianikov, A, Koroleva, A, Gittard, S D, Chichkov, B N, Narayan, R J
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Bones
Devices
Materials science
Organs
Prostheses
Scaffolds
Sol gel process
Surgical implants
Zirconium dioxide
Zirconium oxides
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Summary:The use of zirconium oxide hybrid materials in tissue-engineering scaffolds, microscale valves, microfluidic devices, drug-screening devices, drug delivery devices, bone prostheses and other medical devices is reviewed. The sol-gel synthesis of such materials is first outlined, and an introduction to hybrid ceramic materials and zirconia sol-gels is given. A novel rapid prototyping approach for processing zirconia hybrid materials via two-photon polymerisation is presented. The use of zirconia hybrid materials for creating artificial bone and other tissues and organs using "tissue engineering" is discussed. This strategy uses synthetic scaffolds with cells placed within a scaffold to facilitate cell development. The cell-seeded scaffold is then placed in a bioreactor that provides nutrients to allow cells to divide within the scaffold. The scaffold is subsequently implanted in the body, where the tissue or organ can resume normal function. A lack of appropriate scaffold materials is a significant difficulty, however.
ISSN:0002-7812
1945-2705