Formulating injectable pastes of porous calcium phosphate glass microspheres for bone regeneration applications

Current trends in regenerative medicine treatments for bone repair applications focus on cell-based therapies. These aim to deliver the treatment via a minimally invasive injection to reduce patient trauma and to improve efficacy. This paper describes the injectability of porous calcium phosphate glass microspheres to be used for bone repair based on their formulation, rheology and flow behavior. The use of excipients (xanthan gum, methyl cellulose and carboxyl methyl cellulose) were investigated to improve flow performance. Based on our results, the flow characteristics of the glass microsphere pastes vary according to particle size, surface area, and solid to liquid ratio, as well as the concentration of viscosity modifiers used. The optimal flow characteristics of calcium phosphate glass microsphere pastes was found to contain 40 mg/mL of xanthan gum which increased viscosity whilst providing elastic properties (∼29,000 Pa) at shear rates that mirror the injection process and the resting period post injection, preventing the glass microspheres from both damage and dispersion. It was established that a base formulation must contain 1 g of glass microspheres (60–125 μm in size) per 1 mL of cell culture media, or 0.48 g of glass microspheres of sizes between 125 and 200 μm. Furthermore, the glass microsphere formulations with xanthan gum were readily injectable via a syringe-needle system (3–20 mL, 18G and 14G needles), and have the potential to be utilized as a cell (or other biologics) delivery vehicle for bone regeneration applications.