Silk Fibroin/Cellulose Composite Plates for Bone Fracture Healing

초록

Bone plates are internal fixation devices used for fractured bone healing. Conventional bone plates made of metals can occasionally cause a range of problems, such as stress shielding, conosion and loosening as well as a need for additional surgery to remove the plates. To resolve these problems, polymer based composite materialsw ith desirablem echanicalp roperties,b iodegradabilitya,n d biocompatibility have been suggested for bone plate fixation as an alternative of the metal materials. In this study, a si lk f ibroin/cel lulosec omposi te bone plate was preparedi n an aqueous system. The tensile modulus and strength of the composite bone plate were examined using a universatl esting machine, and the flexuraly ield strengtho f the composite bone plate was measured using a four-point bending test. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the morphology of the composite bone plate.