Cell viability and bioactive coating on additive manufactured polycaprolactone substrate for osteointegration applications

Abstract

Polycaprolactone (PCL) finds its application in the medical field in the areas of suture materials, scaffolds for tissue engineering and medical devices fabrication. To improve the anchoring or osteointegration of PCL, bioactive material will be reinforced or deposited as a layer over the PCL substrate. This experimental work aims to deposit Hydroxyapatite (HA),a bioactive material over PCL substrate material using Electron Beam Deposition (EBD). The results of the characterization studies reveal that the HA was successfully deposited over PCL substrate with suitable crystalline and surface roughness. It was also evident that Ca/P ratio of deposited HA was reasonably closer to that of standard stoichiometric HA. The HA layer deposited by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) process could be an interesting option for enhancing the biocompatibility of additive manufactured polyamide. The results revealed that the water contact of HA coated PCL, the substrate has an angle of 113° with a hydrophobic surface and surface energy of 14.32 mJ/m2. However, the cell growth on coated sample was increased by 22 % and 45 % for 7th and 15th day respectively. This increment in coated sample was due to release of Ca2+ ions Fluorescent microscopic image of cells seeded on coated sample clearly revealed that the viable cells (green in colour) growth was improved in coated samples.