Simultaneous enhancement of vascularization and contact-active antibacterial activity in diopside-based ceramic orbital implants.

Rapid vascularization and long-term antibacterial property are desirable characteristics of the next-generation implants in orbital reconstruction. In this study, the new diopside-based orbital implants were developed by direct ink writing of diopside (CaMgSi2O6; DIO) and low-melt bioactive glass (BG)-assisted sintering approaches. The mechanical tests showed that the addition 5% or 10% BG could readily enhance the compressive strength of the DIO porous bioceramics after sintering at 1150 °C. The Tris buffer immersion test in vitro indicated that the porous bioceramics exhibited appreciable mechanical stability and very limited mass loss (<3.5%) after 8 weeks. The DIO/10BG porous bioceramic sintered at 1150 °C or 1250 °C could promote appreciable angiogenesis response at the early stage (2-6 weeks) of implantation in the rabbit panniculus carnosus muscle models in vivo. It is interesting that the steam autoclaved bioceramics exhibited outstanding contact-active inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but as-sintered bioceramics showed no antibacterial effect. It is reasonable to consider that our strategy paves the way toward a simple and effective approach to fabricate the multifunctional tailormade implants for orbital implantation, thus accelerating the clinical translation of biomaterials research.