Bioceramics are ceramic materials used to replace, repair or augment damaged or missing parts of the body. For example, hydroxyapatite (HA = Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP = Ca3(PO4)2) are bioceramics commonly used in dental implant and synthetic bone graft applications. Established in the mid- 1990s, the CSIR Bioceramics Group's initial research into porous HA led to the discovery of geometrically induced osteoinduction in primates, that is the spontaneous formation of bone in vivo at implant sites where bone formation is not expected without exogenously supplied growth factors (e.g. the bone morphogenetic proteins)
Reference:
Nilen, RWN, Richter, PW, Ripamonti, U et al. 2006. Bioceramics at the CSIR: past, present and future. CSIR Research and Innovation Conference: 1st CSIR Biennial Conference, CSIR International Convention Centre Pretoria, 27-28 February 2006, pp1
Nilen, R., Richter, P., Ripamonti, U., Chetty, A., & Moolman, F. (2006). Bioceramics at the CSIR: past, present and future. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/2715
Nilen, RWN, PW Richter, U Ripamonti, AS Chetty, and FS Moolman. "Bioceramics at the CSIR: past, present and future." (2006): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/2715
Nilen R, Richter P, Ripamonti U, Chetty A, Moolman F, Bioceramics at the CSIR: past, present and future; 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/2715 .
