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To develop a nanoscaled coating material for medical devices possessing weak antibacterial activity, dispersible and crystalline fluorinated hydroxyapatite (F-HAp) nanoparticles were prepared using antisintering agent to avoid calcination-induced sintering. The product was identical to fluorapatite, as determined by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The primary particles generally showed rod-shaped morphology with a length of 367 ± 67 nm and a width of 223 ± 21 nm measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The dispersed average particle size (313 ± 51 nm) in ethanol analyzed by dynamic light scattering was almost the same as that obtained from the SEM images. In the evaluation of solubility in acidic aqueous solution, F-HAp and original hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles started to dissolve at around pH 3.4 and 4.2, respectively. Thus, the stability of F-HAp in a living body increased compared with original HAp. The antibacterial activity of F-HAp nanoparticles was higher than that of fluoride in sodium fluoride alone or the original HAp nanoparticles. However, it was estimated that the effect of F-HAp was much lower compared with that of silver, one of the popular antibacterial materials. Thus, the dispersed F-HAp nanoparticles possessing weak antimicrobial activity can be useful without severe damage to the living tissue.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is biocompatible with bone and skin tissues. To provide antibacterial activity by using an external physical stimulus, titanium (Ti) ions were doped into the HAp structure. Highly dispersible, Ti-doped HAp (Ti-HAp) nanoparticles suitable as a coating material were developed. In 3 kinds of Ti-HAp [Ti/(Ca + Ti) = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2], the Ti content in the HAp was approximately 70% of that used in the Ti-HAp preparation, as determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). ICP-AES and X-ray diffraction showed Ti ions were well substituted into the HAp lattice. The nanoparticles were almost uniformly coated on a polyethylene (PE) sheet in a near-monolayer with a surface coverage ratio >95%. The antibacterial activity of the Ti-HAp nanoparticles containing 7.3% Ti ions and coating the sheet was evaluated by calculating the survival ratio of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on the coated sheet after ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The Ti-HAp-coated sheet showed a 50% decrease in the number of P. aeruginosa compared with that on an uncoated control PE sheet after UV irradiation for 30 s. Key Messages: A system of biocompatibility and antibacterial activity with an on/off switch controlled by external UV stimulation was developed. The system is expected to be applicable in long-term implanted intravascular catheters.

We prepared poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) cell scaffolds coated with hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanocrystals with 50–100 nm in diameter via the Pickering emulsion method. Our cell scaffolds were composed of biodegradable polymers and HAp nanocrystals as a core and shell, respectively. The scaffolds were spherical but displayed uneven shapes when altering a shear speed of homogenization during syntheses. The surface coverage of HAp nanocrystals was examined because the HAp-coating ratio for the scaffolds was an important factor as cell scaffolds in order to enhance cell adhesion. On the basis of scanning electron microscopy observations and thermogravimetric analyses, it was found that the cell scaffolds showed distorted morphologies, and the HAp-coating ratio decreased with increasing the shear speed in the synthesis because shear stress influenced shapes of the scaffolds.