Abstract
In this study,we used the concept of tissue engineering to fabricate the polymer/ceramic composite scaffold to imitate the articular joint. The structure of the scaffold includes cartilage layer,separation layer,and bone layer.We used Poly-DL lactide -co-glycolide acid(PLGA) and gelatin as the cartilage layer material,tricalcium phosphate(TCP) as the the separation layer material,and calcium polyphosphate(CPP) as the bone layer material.And the joining strength between the cartilage layer and separation layer were measured. Poly-DL lactide -co-glycolide acid (PLGA) and gelatin are good biomaterials. We used these materials to produce porous scaffolds and these scaffolds were tested by in vitro cell culture,analysis of mechanical properties and joining strength test to assess which material of polymer is suitable for being the cartilage layer. The results of the study conclude that the gelatin scaffold in the cell culture and mechanical properties are better than the PLGA scaffold,but the joining strength between the gelatin layer and separation layer is weaker.We tried to calcine a thickness of 1mm CPP between the cartilage layer and separation layer as the connecting layer to increase the joining strength. It’s found that the joining strength between the gelatin and separation layer increased evidently,but the the joining strength between the PLGA and separation layer decreased slightly. In addition,the change of the sintering temperature of the separation layer also made a great impact on the joining strength between cartilage layer and separation layer.