Development of characterisation methodologies for macroporous materials

The exceptional property sets of macroporous materials are leading to an increasing number of applications, particularly in the biomedical sector. Apart from the underlying material properties, it is the characteristics of the porous structure that dictate the properties of fabricated devices. Conventional methods of examining the pore structure have a number of inherent disadvantages such as low sampling volume, laborious and frequently destructive sample preparation, tedious and subjective image analysis. Recently, industrial microtomographic methods have become important tools for interrogating porous materials. However, one of the limitations of micro-CT methods is the non-specific nature of commercially available image analysis software coupled with the complicated nature of the key parameters. This paper presents some progress towards the development of a novel analysis tool that aims to characterise specific parameters over a wide range of macroporous materials. This paper focuses on aspects directly relevant to the characterisation of Hydroxyapatite macroporous (HA) foams and demonstrates the capability to obtain statistically meaningful parameters essential for process development and pre-implantation quality assurance.