Nano-sized calcium deficient apatite (CDA) micelles were synthesized through microwave assisted the wet precipitation technique. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was employed as surface template to furnish the CDA particles with tailored size and shape. As-precipitated CDA was heat treated to observe the effect of heat treatment temperature on the interatomic rearrangement of entities within the apatite lattice. This transformation is responsible for conversion of CDA to β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) at specific temperature. The phase purity, particles size, morphology and transformation kinetics were analyzed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). In-vitro studies were performed on β-TCP with three cell lines: osteoblasts, HeLa, and SF 767. The results showed that nano-sized particles were successfully synthesized in short time. The cells had appreciable proliferation/attachment on the surface of these nano-particles. It is concluded that the microwave irradiated synthesized β-TCP has good capacity in terms of biocompatibility and has the potential to be used in hard tissue regeneration applications. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.