Biomaterial granules used for filling bone defects constitute 3D scaffolds: porosity, microarchitecture and molecular composition analyzed by microCT and Raman microspectroscopy.

Biomaterials are used in the granular form to fill small bone defects. Granules can be prepared with a grinder from trabecular bone samples or provided as synthetic biomaterials by industry. Granules occupy the 3D-space and create a macroporosity allowing invasion of vascular and bone cells when the inter-granular pores are larger than 300 µm. We compared the 3D-porosity of granule stacks obtained or prepared with nine biomaterials Osteopure , Lubboc , Bio-Oss , CopiOs , TCP Dental , TCP Dental HP , KeraOs , and TCH in comparison with that of human trabecular bone. For each biomaterial, two sizes of granules were analyzed: 250-1000 and 1000-2000 µm. Microcomputed tomography determined porosity and microarchitectural characteristics of granular stacks and Raman microspectroscopy was used to analyze their composition. Stacks of 250-1000 µm granules had a much lower porosity than 1000-2000 µm granules and the maximum frequency of pores was always centered at 200-250 µm. One biomaterial contained substantial amount of cortical bone (Bio-Oss ). The highest porosity and pore size was obtained with TCP Dental HP. Raman spectroscopy found differences in biomaterials of the same composition. Stacks of granules represent 3D scaffolds resembling trabecular bone with an interconnected porous microarchitecture. Small granules have created pores <300 µm in diameter; this can interfere with vascular colonization. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 107B: 415-423, 2019.