Gamma ray treatment enhances bioactivity and osseointegration capability of titanium

The time-dependent degradation of titanium bioactivity (i.e., the biological aging of titanium) has been reported in previous studies. This phenomenon is caused by the loss of hydrophilicity and the inevitable occurrence of progressive contamination of titanium surfaces by hydrocarbons. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that gamma ray treatment, owing to its high energy to decompose and remove organic contaminants, enhances the bioactivity and osteoconductivity of titanium. Titanium disks were acid-etched and stored for 4 weeks. Rat bone marrow-derived osteoblasts (BMOs) were cultured on titanium disks with or without gamma ray treatment (30 kGy) immediately before experiments. The cell density at day 2 increased by 50% on gamma-treated surfaces, which reflected the 25% higher rate of cell proliferation. Osteoblasts on gamma-treated surfaces showed 30% higher alkaline phosphatase activity at day 5 and 60% higher calcium deposition at day 20. The strength of in vivo bone-implant integration increased by 40% at the early healing stage of week 2 for gamma-treated implants. Gamma ray-treated surfaces regained hydrophilicity and showed a lower percentage of carbon (35%) as opposed to 48% on untreated aged surfaces. The data indicated that gamma ray pretreatment of titanium substantially enhances its bioactivity and osteoconductivity, in association with the significant reduction in surface carbon and the recovery of hydrophilicity. The results suggest that gamma ray treatment could be an effective surface enhancement technology to overcome biological aging of titanium and improve the biological properties of titanium implants.