Fabrication of bone cement that fully transforms to carbonate apatite.

The objective of this study was to fabricate a type of bone cement that could fully transform to carbonate apatite (CO3Ap) in physiological conditions. A combination of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and dicalcium phosphate anhydrous was chosen as the powder phase and mixed with one of three kinds of sodium phosphate solutions: NaH2PO4, Na2HPO4, or Na3PO4. The cement that fully transformed to CO3Ap was fabricated using vaterite, instead of calcite, as a CaCO3 source. Their stability in aqueous solutions was different, regardless of the type of sodium phosphate solution. Rate of transformation to CO3Ap in descending order was Na3PO4>Na2HPO4>NaH2PO4. Transformation rate could be affected by the pH of solution. Results of this study showed that it was advantageous to use vaterite to fabricate CO3Ap-forming cement.