Comparative assessment of the physical structure of antler and bovine bone substitutes: An in vitro study

TL;DR

This study compares the physical structure of antler and bovine bone substitutes using microscopy and porosity measurements.

Contribution

The study provides a direct comparison of the physical properties of antler and bovine bone graft materials using in vitro methods.

Findings

Bovine bone particles had a smoother surface compared to the rougher surface of antler particles.

Bovine bone had a higher specific surface area and total porosity volume than antler bone.

Both bone substitutes showed similar pore morphology despite structural differences.

Abstract

The use of bone graft materials has significantly increased. Given the inherent variations in structure and functionality between different grafting materials, this evaluated and compared the physical attributes of antler and bovine femur bone substitutes.

In the present in vitro investigation, the surface morphological architecture of the two bone substitutes with different origins was assessed through scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) technique was employed to measure the porosity, specific surface area (SSA), and pore morphology.

Scanning electron microscopy observations indicated that the surface of the bovine particles appeared smoother, while the antler particles exhibited a rougher surface texture. The BET analysis revealed that both samples exhibited identical pore morphology. The SSA was 15.974 m2/g in the antler particles compared with 18.404 m2/g in the bovine sample. The total porosity volume in the antler and bovine femur bone substitutes were 0.2172 cm3/g and 0.2918 cm3/g, respectively. Additionally, the antler particles had a porosity percentage of 40%, whereas the bovine femur bone substitute showed a porosity percentage of 43.5%.

Based on the results of this study, it seems that the two samples of bone grafting materials have comparable physical structures.

Figures