Abstract
Electron beam melting (EBM) is an additive manufacturing technique, which allows forming customized implants that perfectly fit the loss of the anatomical structure of bone. Implantation efficiency depends not only on the implant’s functional or mechanical properties but also on its surface properties, which are of great importance with regard to such biological processes as bone regeneration or microbial contamination. This work presents the impact of surface modifications (mechanical polishing, sandblasting, and acid-polishing) of EBM-produced Ti6Al4V ELI implants on essential biological parameters. These include wettability, cytotoxicity toward fibroblast and osteoblast cell line, and ability to form biofilm by Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. Obtained results indicated that all prepared surfaces exhibited hydrophilic character and the highest changes of wettability were obtained by chemical modification. All implants displayed no cytotoxicity against osteoblast and fibroblast cell lines regardless of the modification type. In turn, the quantitative microbiological tests and visualization of microbial biofilm by means of electron microscopy showed that type of implant’s modification correlated with the species-specific ability of microbes to form biofilm on it. Thus, the results of the presented study confirm the relationship between such technological aspects as surface modification and biological properties. The provided data are useful with regard to applications of the EBM technology and present a significant step towards personalized, customized implantology practice.
Highlights
The involvement of new methods of fabrication such as additive manufacturing techniques (AMTs) is undoubtedly required to develop modern, advanced orthopaedic implants
Pellets were made of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V ELI) powder in the range of particle size from 45 to 100 μm (Figure 1a)
Pellets were subjected to the surface modifications, as it was SEM image of Methods, Ti6Al4V ELI
Summary
The involvement of new methods of fabrication such as additive manufacturing techniques (AMTs) is undoubtedly required to develop modern, advanced orthopaedic implants. Such methods should allow forming implants from a wide range of materials and to obtain light, durable structures. Above-mentioned features are more and more often gained by customized design involving the application of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. Additive manufacturing techniques allow to form individualized implants, designed on the basis of patient-specific data, obtained from computed tomography. Such implants perfectly mimic the anatomical structure or fill its loss. The applicative success of additively manufactured implants strongly depends on their final surface parameters related with the technology applied, manufacturing process parameters, material, and type of post-process used
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
