Biomechanical and antibacterial properties of Tobramycin loaded hydroxyapatite coated fixation pins.

The present study investigates the use of nanoporous, biomimetic hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings deposited on TiO₂ coated fixation pins as functional implant surfaces for the local release of Tobramycin in order to prevent bacterial colonization. The impact of HA-coating thickness, coating morphology and biomechanical forces during insertion into synthetic bone on the drug loading and release properties are analyzed. The coatings are shown to exhibit bactericidal effects against Staphylococcus aureus in agar medium for a duration of 6 days after loading by adsorption with Tobramycin for only 5 min at elevated temperature and pressure.

Co-precipitation of tobramycin into biomimetically coated orthopedic fixation pins employing submicron-thin seed layers of hydroxyapatite.

The migration, loosening and cut-out of implants and nosocomial infections are current problems associated with implant surgery. New innovative strategies to overcome these issues are emphasized in today's research. The current work presents a novel strategy involving co-precipitation of tobramycin with biomimetic hydroxyapatite (HA) formation to produce implant coatings that control local drug delivery to prevent early bacterial colonization of the implant.

Drug loading and release of Tobramycin from hydroxyapatite coated fixation pins.

This paper evaluates the loading and release properties of Tobramycin incorporated by adsorptive loading from a solution into plasma sprayed and biomimetically coated Hydroxyapatite (HA) fixation pins. The aim of this study is to contribute towards designing a functional implant surface offering local release of the antibiotic agent to prevent post-surgical infections. Cathodic arc deposition is used to coat stainless steel fixation pins with a bioactive, anatase phase dominated, TiO₂ coating onto which a HA layer is grown biomimetically.

Photocatalytic and antimicrobial properties of surgical implant coatings of titanium dioxide deposited though cathodic arc evaporation.

Unlabelled: Nanostructured crystalline titanium dioxide coatings deposited by cathodic arc evaporated on titanium grade five medical implant substrates were demonstrated to exhibit UV-induced photocatalytic activity that can be utilized to provide bactericidal effects against Staphylococcus epidermidis. The photocatalytic activity of the coatings was confirmed via degradation of Rhodamine B under UV illumination. A 90 % reduction of viable bacteria was achieved in a clinically suitable time of only 2 min with a UV dose of 2.

Effect of deposition parameters on the photocatalytic activity and bioactivity of TiO2 thin films deposited by vacuum arc on Ti-6Al-4V substrates.

This article evaluates the influence of the main parameters in a cathodic arc deposition process on the microstructure of titanium dioxide thin coatings and correlates these to the photocatalytic activity (PCA) and in vitro bioactivity of the coatings. Bioactivity of all as deposited coatings was confirmed by the growth of uniform layers of hydroxyapatite (HA) after 7 days in phosphate buffered saline at 37°C. Comparison of the HA growth after 24 h indicated enhanced HA formation on coatings with small titanium dioxide grains of rutile and anatase phase.

Influence of microstructure and chemical composition of sputter deposited TiO2 thin films on in vitro bioactivity.

Functionalisation of biomedical implants via surface modifications for tailored tissue response is a growing field of research. Crystalline TiO(2) has been proven to be a bone bioactive, non-resorbable material. In contact with body fluids a hydroxyapaptite (HA) layer forms on its surface facilitating the bone contact.