Implants coated with bioactive glass by CO2-laser, an in vivo study

Due to ageing of the population, the number of revision operations is expected to increase. Thus good fixation of medical implants is crucial for successful treatment. In our previous studies, a method to coat titanium implants with bioactive glass (BAG) via CO2 laser treatment was introduced. It allows to localise the application of a bioactive coating, without heat treatment of the whole implant. In the present study, cylindrical titanium implants were used (BAG-coated, control group: NaOH-treated and grit-blasted Ti). Three implants were placed in each femoral epicondyle of six rabbits. After eight weeks the animals were sacrificed. Half of the implants were subjected to a torsional loading test. In the control groups, the failure occurred at the bone-implant interface, in the BAG group the failure occurred mainly in the reacted glass. The implants coated with BAG were integrated into host bone without a connective tissue capsule and were surrounded by significantly more bone than the control implants. The findings indicate clearly that the use of CO2 laser radiation to create BAG coatings did not inhibit the bioactive properties of the glass in terms of osteoconduction.