In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of a Bio-Inspired Adhesive for Bone Fixation.

Compared to metallic hardware, an effective bone adhesive can revolutionize the treatment of clinically challenging situations such as comminuted, articular, and pediatric fractures. The present study aims to develop such a bio-inspired bone adhesive, based upon a modified mineral-organic adhesive with tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP) and phosphoserine (OPS) by incorporating nanoparticles of polydopamine (nPDA). The optimal formulation, which was screened using in vitro instrumental tensile adhesion tests, was found to be 50%TTCP/50%OPS-2%nPDA with a liquid-to-powder ratio of 0.