Fossils as candidate material for orthopedic applications

Abstract

Ceramic powders from fossil deposits were thoroughly characterized from the material point of view and sintered to produce massive components. The raw material, a mixture of apatite minerals, feldspars, and quartz, seems ideally suitable to obtain a biologically compatible glass ceramic. Preliminary in vitro tests of proliferation and adhesion of MG63 human osteoblast-like cell line on a selected sample are encouraging. Results are correlated with sintering conditions and phase composition: the fossil can be sintered to almost full density at temperatures as low as 900 °C and seems to quickly promote cell activation with respect to hydroxylapatite.