Modeling Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Polymerization for Bone Cement Production

Bone cements based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) have been widely used in orthopedic surgeries for fixation of prostheses and filling of bone defects. Bone cements are produced through in situ and in vivo free radical bulk polymerizations, which are highly exothermic and are subject to strong gel and glass effects. As a consequence, high temperatures may be reached during application. Furthermore, residual monomer usually remains unreacted inside the body and may cause aseptic loosening and tissue damages. 1 In a companion work in this volume, it was shown that usual free-radical polymerization models might effectively describe the bone cement preparation 2 and therefore be used for quantitative analysis of the bone cement synthesis. In this work, a theoretical investigation based on a multicell reactor model is performed to study the bone cement production and allow for future optimization of the preparation procedure. It is shown that the degree of solubility of the pre-polymer powder in the liquid monomer is the most important variable during the bone cement preparation and that this variable should be manipulated for design and control of the operation in real applications.