BACTERIAL CELLULOSE-BASED SCAFFOLD MATERIALS FOR BONE RESTORATION

The aim of this work is the production of bacterial cellulose scaffolds (CBs) incorporated with hydroxyapatite (Hap) and silk fibroin (FS) for bone restoration applications. The samples produced presented high percentage of open and connected pores (75.16% to 88.52%). MEV results show that FS incorporation makes CBs pores more organized and elongated. This elongated pore profile is also confirmed by the Structure Model Index (SMI) and sphericity parameters, provided by X-ray microtomography (µCT). The sample composed by CBs-FS has an SMI = 2.42, close to the limit value (SMI = 3) that corresponds to the elongated structure. The scaffolds sphericity values were: 0.030 (CBs), 0.043 (CBs-Hap) and 0.020 (CBs-FS). The scaffolds produced have a trend of transversely isotropic symmetry, generally associated with a preferentially oriented direction.