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Early bone growth on the surface of titanium implants in rat femur is enhanced by an amorphous diamond coating
Jarkko J P Jaatinen1, Rami K Korhonen, Alpo Pelttari
1Department of Orthopedics, Bone and Cartilage Research Center, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
Background And Purpose:
Amorphous diamond (AD) is a durable and compatible biomaterial for joint prostheses. Knowledge regarding bone growth on AD-coated implants and their early-stage osseointegration is poor. We investigated bone growth on AD-coated cementless intramedullary implants implanted in rats. Titanium was chosen as a reference due to its well-known performance.
Materials And Methods:
We placed AD-coated and non-coated titanium implants (R(a) ≈ 0.2 μm) into the femoral bone marrow of 25 rats. The animals were divided in 2 groups according to implant coating and they were killed after 4 or 12 weeks. The osseointegration of the implants was examined from hard tissue specimens by measuring the new bone formation on their surface.
Results:
4 weeks after the operation, the thickness of new bone in the AD-coated group was greater than that in the non-coated group (15.3 (SD 7.1) μm vs. 7.6 (SD 6.0) μm). 12 weeks after the operation, the thickness of new bone was similar in the non-coated group and in the AD-coated group.
Interpretation:
We conclude that AD coating of femoral implants can enhance bone ongrowth in rats in the acute, early stage after the operation and might be an improvement over earlier coatings.
