Physico/chemical characterization and in vivo evaluation of nanothickness bioceramic depositions on alumina-blasted/acid-etched Ti-6Al-4V implant surfaces.

The objective of this study was to physico/chemically characterize and evaluate the in vivo performance of two nanothickness ion beam assisted depositions (IBAD) of bioceramic coatings on implants in a beagle model. Alumina-blasted/acid-etched (AB/AE) Ti-6Al-4V implants were subjected to two different IBAD depositions (IBAD I and IBAD II), which were physico/chemically characterized by SEM, EDS, XPS, XPS + ion-beam milling (depth profiling), XRD, AFM, and ToF-SIMS. A beagle dog tibia model was utilized for histomorphometric and biomechanical (torque) comparison between AB/AE, IBAD I, IBAD II, and plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite (PSHA) coated implants that remained in vivo for 3 and 5 weeks. The coatings were characterized as amorphous Ca-P with high Ca/P stoichiometries with thicknesses of an order of magnitude difference (IBAD I = 30-50 nm and IBAD II = 300-500 nm). The histomorphometric and biomechanical testing results showed that the 300-500 nm thickness deposition (IBAD II) and PSHA positively modulated bone healing at early implantation times.