Morphological investigations of a porous aluminum oxide ceramic and the consequences for clinical application.

The ingrowth of bone and the tissue compatibility of a Hungarian aluminum-oxide ceramic have been investigated in animal experiments by microscopic section, by electron microscopy, and with energy-dispersion X-ray microanalysis. Surrounding bone grew into the 100- to 500-micron pores of the porous ceramic without any undesirable reaction, as well as into bored holes 500 micron in diameter. It is technically possible to make only the 1- to 2-mm deep superficial layer of such a material macroporous, so that it can be applied as an acetabular component of hip prostheses; if the surrounding bone grows into the macropores of this thin layer (as was shown in our experiment) it can perfect the connection between the living bone and the non-living ceramic material without essentially changing the much required, positive qualities of a solid acetabular component. The authors intend to apply this material in this way.