Discrete calcium phosphate nanocrystalline deposition enhances osteoconduction on titanium-based implant surfaces

We sought to assess the ability of nanotopographically complex titanium surfaces to accelerate osteoconduction. For this, 130 miniature bone ingrowth chambers (called "T plants"), fabricated from either commercially pure titanium (cpTi) or titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V or Ti64), with microtopographically complex surfaces were used in the study, of which 50 were further modified by the discrete crystalline deposition (DCD) of calcium phosphate (CAP) nanoparticles that superimposed a nanotopographic complexity on each implant surface. Thus, four experimental groups were generated (cpTi, cpTi-DCD, Ti64, and Ti64-DCD), and the Tplants were implanted bilaterally in the femora of Wistar rats for 9 days. After harvesting, the femora were trimmed, and multiple-mounted samples were embedded in PMMA. The blocks produced were ground and block faces observed by back-scattering electron imaging (BSEI) at different planes through the chambers. Osteoconduction was assessed, as a function of bone-implant contact, on a total of 1087 BSEI micrographs and submitted to rigorous statistical analyses. Our results showed both the important effects of anatomic location on bone ingrowth and the significant increase in osteoconduction (p < 0.001) as a function of the enhanced surface nanotopography obtained by the CAP nanocrystals.