The objective of this study was to develop an efficient "real time" measurement system able to directly measure, with microgram resolution, the dissolution rate of absorbable glass fibers, and utilize the system to evaluate the effectiveness of
silane-based sizing as a means to delay the fiber dissolution process. The absorbable glass fiber used was
calcium phosphate (CaP), with
tetramethoxysilane selected as the sizing agent. E-glass fiber was used as a relatively nondegrading control. Both the unsized-CaP and sized-CaP degraded linearly at both the 37 degrees C and 60 degrees C test temperature levels used. No significant decrease in
weight-loss rate was recorded when the CaP fiber tows were pretreated, using conventional application methods, with the
tetramethoxysilane sizing for either temperature condition. The unsized-CaP and sized-CaP
weight loss rates were each significantly higher at 60 than at 37 degrees C (both p < 0.02), as expected from dissolution kinetics. In terms of actual
weight loss rate measured using our system for
phosphate glass fiber, the unsized-CaP fiber we studied dissolved at a rate of 10.90 x 10(-09) and 41.20 x 10(-09) g/min-cm(2) at 37 degrees C and 60 degrees C, respectively. Considering performance validation of the developed system, the slope of the
weight loss vs. time plot for the tested E-glass fiber was not significantly different compared to a slope equal to zero for both test temperatures.