abstract
In the present study, mono- and multi-material laser textured Ti6Al4V implants are manufactured and characterized in vivo to explore their applicability in orthopedic implants. Laser surface texturing is used for manufacturing grooved Ti6Al4V implants while a pressure-assisted sintering technique is employed to impregnate beta-tricalcium phosphate into grooves for an improved bioactivity. After implantation into Sprague Dawley rat's femur for 4 and 12 weeks, bone-implant fixation and osseointegration are assessed, by performing push-out tests and histological characterization. Histological characterization showed bone formation around all implants, characterized by immature bone at 4 weeks of implantation and a more mature bone after 12 weeks. The maximum push-out forces are higher for the textured and multi-material solution, when compared to non-textured implants right after 4 weeks of implantation (p < 0.05). After 12 weeks, multi-material implant displayed higher fracture energy when compared to non-textured implants (p < 0.05). Results revealed that laser surface texturing and bioactive multi-material solutions are highly effective to promote bone regeneration and enhance bone-implant fixation for further application in orthopedic implants.
keywords
IN-VIVO; TITANIUM IMPLANTS; LASER; ALLOY; STRENGTH; SURFACES; HYDROXYAPATITE; BIOMATERIALS; OSTEOGENESIS; INTERFACES
subject category
Materials Science
authors
Costa, MM; Miranda, A; Bartolomeu, F; Carvalho, O; Matos, S; Silva, FS; Miranda, G
our authors
Georgina Miranda
Assistant Professoracknowledgements
F.S.S. and G.M. co-last authorship. The authors would like to thank the Hard Tissue Laboratory of the Dentistry School of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, specially to Mrs Claudia Brites for the histological specimens processing. This work was supported by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the grant SFRH/BD/140191/2018, the project PTDC/EME-EME/1442/2020 (Add2MechBio) and also by the project PTDC/EME-EME/30498/2017 (FunImp). Moreover, this work has been also funded by National funds, through the FCT -project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020. Additionally, this work was supported by FCT national funds, under the national support to R&D units grant, through the reference projects UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020.