PREPARATION AND NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF DRUG-LOADED HYDROXYAPATITE BIOMATERIALS

To meet the challenge of regenerating bone lost to disease or trauma, biodegradable scaffolds are being investigated as a way to regenerate bone without the need for an auto- or allograft. Herein, we prepared poly (lactic acid) (PLA)/chitosan(CS)/nano-hydroxyapatite biomaterials through solution polymerization and solvent volatilization. Cefadroxil was used as a model drug for loading on biomaterials using supercritical carbon dioxide. In addition, we investigated the in vitro drug release effect, and the in vitro release results showed that the drug could release more than 73% of the drug load within 48[Formula: see text]h. This excellent drug release property could allow continuous drug use at the wound site, further broadening its application in the medical field. A three-dimensional finite element (FE) model of bone screws was established, and the mechanical properties of the screws were numerically calculated. The stress and deformation of the bone screws under different external conditions were simulated. The bending simulation showed that the screw can withstand the maximum deformation of 0.418[Formula: see text]mm and equivalent stress of 566.94[Formula: see text]MPa at a force of 700 N. The maximum equivalent stress of the screw reached 321.84[Formula: see text]MPa, and the corresponding torque was 779.68 N⋅mm when the torsion angle was gradually increased to 30[Formula: see text]. The fabricated material has excellent mechanical properties and can be used for bone repair. This study provides a new direction for preparing drug-loaded polymer biomaterials and developing new materials for bone repair.