Preparation and Characterization of Injectable Chitosan-Hydroxyapatite Microspheres

The combination of chitosan and hydroxyapatite (HAp) in the form of injec table, porous and biodegradable structures seems to be an interesting route to promot e localized bone regeneration, especially with the incorporation of cells or cell-targeted molecules. In the present work, chitosan-HAp microspheres were prepared and charac terized in terms of size, morphology, water sorption and structure. Chitosan-HAp porous microspheres were successfully prepared using tripolyphosphate as coagulating agent. The size increas ed and the water sorption decreased with increasing HAp contents. The ceramic particles w ere well embedded and homogeneously distributed within the polymer matrix.