Effects of aging on titanium implants inserted into the tibiae of female rats using light microscopy, SEM, and image processing.

We examined the influence of aging on the implant-bone interface of titanium implants inserted transcortically and extending into the medullary canal of rat tibiae, and quantitatively assessed the differences in bone reaction using an image processing system. Three groups of 15 female rats, aged 6 weeks (young group), 22 weeks (adult group), and 80 weeks (old group) were used in this experiment. The animals were sacrificed 28 days after implant placement. Toluidine blue stained undecalcified sections were prepared for histological observation and image analysis, and the implant socket was observed by SEM. There was no difference in the degree of maturation of newly formed bone between the young and adult groups. Titanium implants inserted in the young and adult groups were surrounded with a bone layer. In the old group, however, there was little mature bone tissue around the implants. Quantitative evaluation indicated that the young group showed the highest, the adult group showed a slightly lower, and the old group showed the lowest percent bone contact, thickness of bone contact, and area of bone surrounding the implant.