The Charlotte-mecklenburg Hospital Authority

Warren K Ramp

Richard D Peindl

Richard Dennis Peindl

There is provided a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement composition that includes the addition of from about 10% by weight to about 30% by weight of calcium hydroxide. The bone cement is used for orthopaedic procedures, injuries, or disease states that have compromised the metabolism of local hard and soft tissues, largely due to an acidic environment. In an aqueous environment, the calcium hydroxide is slowly released from pores in the polymer matrix as calcium and hydroxyl ions to provide a method for stimulating healing by maintaining or elevating local pH in the tissues adjacent to bone cement. It has also been found that the calcium hydroxide ameliorates the toxic effects of antibiotics which are often included in the bone cement.

Bone cement compositions

A cell culture apparatus includes a substrate, and an inorganic film on the substrate and having a relatively smooth surface for cell growth thereon. Moreover, the relatively smooth surface has a relatively low predetermined surface roughness so that cells grown thereon adhere by chemical adhesion rather than by mechanical interlocking. In other words, the predetermined surface roughness defines surface indentations smaller than a size of corresponding cells to be grown thereon. Accordingly, the interaction between various inorganic materials and cells may be studied based upon chemical adhesion rather than mechanical interlocking. The predetermined surface roughness is preferably less about 10 .mu.m root-mean-square, and more preferably less than about 1 .mu.m root-mean-square. The relatively smooth growth surface is preferably obtained by thermal vacuum evaporation and deposition, followed by annealing of the as-deposited film.

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Charlotte, NC, United States of America

Warren K Ramp