Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of hydroxyapatite with controlled morphology

Hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics have been used as bone-repairing materials. Particles in HA ceramics show different properties depending on their compositions and morphologies. It is expected that the control of the composition and morphology contributes to improvement of biological properties of HA ceramics. In order to reveal the effect of the composition and morphology, the HA ceramics composed of rod-shaped or plate-shaped particles with calcium-deficient composition were prepared by the hydrothermal process. The in vitro evaluation, simulated body fluid (SBF) soaking test, was then conducted for these samples. The calcium-deficient HA ceramics composed of rod-shaped or plate-shaped particles were reacted with SBF and incorporated calcium and phosphate ions from SBF. This implies that these HA ceramics show high affinity to bone in the body.